No way!
by Scarlett Rose Petal
Summary: The earth is being invaded by aliens... again. Only this time they're after Gwen! When Verdona tells them this, Ben, Gwen and Kevin go on the run. But what happens when past meets present? GWEVIN!
1. Chapter 1

It was an ordinary day in Bellwood. Or, well, as ordinary as it could be for Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. They were all sitting in Mr. Smoothy's parking lot. Ever since Kevin had been turned back to normal, he and Gwen had been spending most of their time together. (Mainly making out.) Today the couple had promised to spend some time with the teenage superhero, who was either bored out of his mind, or getting chased around by crazed fangirls. In fact, the only reason they could actually could sit and enjoy their smoothies in peace was that Gwen had placed a pink shield over them and their table. On the other side the fans were yelling stuff like:

„We love you, Ben!"

„Gwen! Marry me!"

„Kevin Levin's the hottest guy in the world!"

The three teens were desperately trying to ignore the screaming fans.

„So... anything new about dangerous aliens?" asked Ben, watching as Gwen shot the girl who said Kevin was hot a dirty look.

„Not much," Kevin answered, fist curling around his soda can so tightly it was a wonder it didn't explode.

„But if those freaks don't stop proposing to my girlfriend, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be counted as one!" he yelled, wishing he could punch someone. Immediately the proposals quieted down.

„Well, I've had enough of this," announced Gwen, standing up, „Let's go to my house!"

„They're going to her house!"

„ Hurry!" yelled some people, and the mob of fans quickly ran away. Gwen smirked and sat back down.

„Nice," said Ben, smiling at his cousin and sipping on his smoothy.

Just when the teens had relaxed, a sound like a block of cement hitting a brick wall came from two streets away. One of the buildings shuddered. The sound of a car being thrown at something, or someone, and the windows smashing followed. People were screaming.

„And I was so hoping this was gonna be an alien-free day," muttered Ben, as Gwen gathered pink manna in her hands and Kevin absorbed the cement of the parking lot floor. Ben turned the dial of the Ultimatrix, and changed into Jetray. He flew to the source of the sound, with Gwen and Kevin following on pink energy platforms.

Ben was the first to reach the fight, and gasped as he stopped dead in his tracks.

„Ben? What's wrong?" asked Gwen, as she and Kevin stopped beside him.

„That," Kevin answered, and pointed to the fight. Gwen turned to see what her boyfriend and cousin found so unbelievable.

„Oh no," she whispered.

A/N: R&R! This is my first fanfic, so no flames please!


	2. Five years ago

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10!

Five years ago

Gwen Tennyson was sitting on her front porch, waiting anxiously for her cousin Ben to arrive. She'd had a history test earlier that day, and was almost certain she'd failed it. Most eleven-year-olds wouldn't care about one test. They'd sit patiently in the classroom the next day, get a bad grade, put the paper in their backpack and endure their parents disappointment. Not Gwen, though. Education was the most important thing in the world to her!

Just then, Ben came down the street, riding his new bike.

„Hey, doofus," he greeted her, smirking, „Is the world being attacked by Vilgax again?"

„No, Ben," she answered, frowning at the mere thought of getting an F. „I think I failed my history test."

„You've gotta be kidding me!" Ben cried, „THAT'S the big emergency? It's just a stupid test! What's the big deal?"

„You just don't get it, do you dweeb? If I don't get good grades, I won't get into college. If I don't get into college-„

„Then what? The universe will explode? For crying out loud, Gwen! We've fought countless of dangerous freaks, and you're worried about some stupid test?" Ben yelled, but Gwen could see the amusement in his eyes.

She opened her mouth to spit out a retort, but suddenly, a portal opened up, and out of it stepped an energy being. Ben reached for the omnitrix, and Gwen for her spell book. The energy being shot two pink beams of light at the two cousins, one taking Gwen's spell book, and the other wrapping around Ben's wrist.

„That won't be necessary," she said, a smile playing on her mouth.

„Who are you?" asked Ben, trying to pull the energy away from the watch, as he and his cousin were left defenseless.

„Now, that doesn't matter in the slightest," she said, laughing. She grabbed them with two more energy beams, and pushed them through the portal.

„AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

They fell through the air and landed on a street. The two got up groaning at the pain. It felt like they'd just fallen from a three-story building.

„What just happened?" asked Ben.

„I don't know," answered Gwen, turning her head to see their surroundings. It seemed like a normal city to her.

„Maybe we just got-„ she ended her sentence in a gasp. Her eyes fell on a figure a few yards away from them. The figure was a tall, pale boy about a year older than her, with long shaggy, black hair, dressed all in black. She couldn't see his eyes, but was almost positive they were a dark brown. He was kneeling down in front of them, obviously having just fallen the same way they had.

„Gwen, what's-„ but Ben didn't need to end his sentence. He saw the boy, too.

„Kevin Eleven!" he cried, reaching for the Omnitrix, which was no longer covered with the strange pink energy.

„Tennyson!" yelled Kevin, getting lifting his head to glare at him. Gwen cringed at the look in his eyes. It was hatred, agony, and for, some reason, betrayal all in one. But it was quickly replaced by a smirk, as the 12-year old absorbed the cement and stood up.

Gwen and Ben gasped. Ben hit the dial on the watch, changing into Four-Arms.

„Well, that's new," said Gwen, as Ben charged at Kevin, hurling him into a nearby building. Kevin hit the building hard, stood back up, his face scowling, but otherwise unchanged, and slowly made his way towards Ben.

„No kidding," Ben snapped at his cousin, watching the boy, waiting for some sign of weakness.

„You locked me up in the Null Void, and now I'm gonna get my revenge. Although, guess I should be thanking you. If you hadn't, I never would've gotten control of my powers. Then again, you ARE the one who turned me into that freak!" Kevin snarled, grabbing a nearby car and throwing it at Ben. It hit him square in the chest, throwing him off balance, the windows shattering at the impact.

„Not so tough now, are you?" Kevin smirked.

Suddenly, an energy blast hit him in the stomach, knocking him down on his back. He looked up to see Gwen with her hands extended towards him. With a start he realized she was the one who threw the energy blast at him.

„Oh, and I almost forgot about your annoying, big-mouthed cousin- Gwendolyn," the boy smirked, getting up for the second time in the past five minutes, and Gwen frowned. The way he said her name made chills run down her spine in fear. She knew she would pay for that, and was proved right- the boy was getting ready to throw another car at her.

Then a pink energy shield appeared between them, with Kevin on one side, and Gwen and Ben- who had changed back to himself soon after the car had knocked him out- on the other side. They turned to see a 16-year-old red headed girl in a red sweater and black mini skirt with a fierce expression on her face casting it. To her left stood an alien, with red wings and green eyes, that somehow resembled a stingray. To her right, a 17 year old boy, also covered in a thick layer of the concrete, with long hair, a T-shirt pulled over his long-sleeved shirt, wearing jeans and combat boots. His expression was somewhere between disbelief, curiosity, and dread.

„That's enough!" the girl shouted.

„Ben! Ben!"

Suddenly, a team of reporters ran over to the small group.

„Who are these kids?"

„Why is one of them wearing the Omnitrix?"

„Are they some sort of dangerous aliens in disguise come to take over the world?"

The strange red alien changed into a 16-year-old with dark brown hair and green eyes, dressed in a green jacket, black T-shirt and blue jeans. The shield transformed into an energy beam, grabbed the three kids and pulled them towards the teens. The girl moved her hand in the air once, and the six of them vanished.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! You guys rock! And the reviews made me so happy that I started writing this chapter as soon as I finished reading them! :D Now, just to make a few things clear: Ben and Gwen are eleven because I wanted this story to be as close to the real thing as possible and I figured Kevin would have mastered his powers in a year. But they're still gonna act like they're ten and eleven. Now onto the story!

P.S. I'll try to make this one longer! =)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10! But how awesome would it be if I did? XD

_

_Previously:_

Gwen turned the energy shield into an energy beam and grabbed the younger version of her, Ben and Kevin. She pulled them away from the reporters, murmured a spell under her breath and moved her hand in the air once.

"That's it! No more traveling by energy portals!" cried the younger version of Ben. He and the younger Gwen were on their knees, having lost their balance when they felt solid ground again. Gwen had taken them to the first place she could think of- Grandpa Max's secret fishing rock.

"Where are we, anyway?" the younger version of her asked, as they got up.

"Looks like Grandpa Max's-" Ben started to say.

"Watch out!" yelled Gwen, as she saw the 12-year-old Kevin absorb the bark from a nearby tree and come charging at the two 11-year-olds. Manna stretched from her fingertips and grabbed him around the waist, pinning him to that same tree. He tried to break free, but failed. Kevin and Ben were already standing on either side of her, arms crossed, stone-like expressions on their faces. The only difference was that Ben looked suspicious, while Kevin just seemed like he would rather be anywhere but here.

"Now talk," Ben said firmly, "How did you get out of the Null Void?"

"What the hell? Let me go!" the boy yelled, desperately trying to free himself.

"I will as soon as you calm down," Gwen promised him.

"Are you out of your mind? He tried to kill us!" Younger Gwen screamed.

"I know," Gwen answered, a sad expression on her face, "But that wasn't his fault."

"What? How can it not be his fault?" snapped Younger Ben.

"He's right," said Kevin quietly so that the kids wouldn't overhear, turning to Gwen and scratching the back of his neck, "I am the one who absorbed the Omnitrix."

Gwen just glared at him and sighed an exasperated sigh. "We'll talk about this later. Right now we need to get them back to their own time."

"Our own time?" Younger Gwen repeated questioningly. Before anyone could answer her though, a bright light flashed, and on the bank of the small creek stood a man in a white lab coat, and an Annodyte.

"Here they are! And right on schedule," said Paradox, smiling at the six 'young persons', as he sometimes called them.

"Kiddo!" cried Grandma Verdona as she embraced Gwen, "It's so great to see you! Especially after what happened two weeks ago. Do you realize you could've been killed?" she held her away at arm's length and looked at her with concern.

"First of all, it's great to see you too, Grandma, and secondly, yes, but you know why I did it," Gwen answered, as the three kids watched them in confusion.

"Yes, I do. And I've never been more proud," she smiled as they hugged again.

"Wait a sec. She doesn't listen to what anyone tells her, actually fights me, nearly gets us all killed, and you're proud of her! I saved the entire universe for crying out loud!" whined Ben, throwing his hands in the air.

"Better luck next time, Benji," Kevin smirked, leaning back against a tree. Ben glared at him.

"What're they talking about?" Younger Ben whispered to his cousin.

"No idea," she answered.

"Exactly," said Paradox, "And it WILL stay that way."

"Who the hell are you? And would you let me go!" snapped Younger Kevin, starting to struggle again.

"The guy in the lab coat's Paradox- time traveling hero. The annodyte's Verdona Tennyson- Gwen and Ben's grandma. She tried to destroy Gwen's body and force her to go to Annodyne with her a couple months ago," Kevin answered, still smirking, "As for lettin' you go, well, that's up to her," he nudged his head in Gwen's direction.

"If it weren't for the obvious, I'd like you better when you were twelve," Verdona said, glaring at Kevin.

"Wait, aren't you the one who took us back here?" asked Younger Ben, jabbing an accusing finger at Verdona.

"No. That was a friend of mine, Celestine. I brought your friend here, since I know from experience how difficult he would be. No problem for you, though, sweetie," she said, smiling and patting her younger granddaughter's head affectionately.

"He's not our friend," she insisted, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Damn right I ain't! He turned me into some freak and locked me up in the Null Void!" the 12-year-old snapped in agreement, pointing his chin at the 11-year-old Ben.

"You did that to yourself!" he snapped back.

"Not one to forgive easily, are you?" said Paradox, sighing at the younger Kevin, "However, we do have some more pressing matters at hand, slightly more important than what happened 5 years ago. Now, thank you for the introductions, Kevin Ethan, but I believe you still haven't introduced yourselves. Ben, Gwen, Kevin, you are now five years into the future, where Kevin has joined you, the world knows about the Omnitrix, or should I say Ultimaterix, and Gwendolyn doesn't care as much about her studies anymore," he stated.

"Dweeb? Not caring about school? Yeah, right," said Younger Ben, a disbelieving smirk on his face.

"Dweeb?" said Kevin, an amused glint in his obsidian eyes. It was clear that the longer they stayed here, the worse insults Ben would get from Kevin later on.

"Don't ask," said Gwen, her emerald eyes pleading with him not to make some stupid joke. He just shrugged in return.

"Well, it wouldn't kill you to care a little more about school, Freakazoid," Younger Gwen snapped back. Kevin's smirk widened.

"Anyway," said Paradox, clearly getting impatient with them, "Your grandmother brought you here, because there is a slight problem, regarding Gwendolyn, the Earth, and an alien species called Rakari."

"More than a slight problem," Verdona said, stepping away from Gwen so that she could see all of them, "And, sweetie, you might want to put him down for this," she pointed at Younger Kevin and Gwen let him go. Surprisingly, he didn't try to take advantage of the situation and attempt to kill Ben.

"You see, annodytes and rakari have been enemies from the very beginning. Their planet is the exact opposite of ours. Technology everywhere, no living things besides them in sight! They treat every little gesture like an invitation to war. It's a wonder they could've survived all this time. The only thing that united them was their hatred for annodytes. The feeling was mutual. For centuries this war continued, us annodytes using our nearly limitless power to defend ourselves, the rakari their technology to attack. But then, one of them, a girl who was believed to have a gift for seeing the future, (ridiculous, isn't it?) said that there would be an annodyte on earth, disguised as a human, who performed 'magic' and that she would put an end to this war. The rakari assumed that this meant that she would wipe them out of existence. They believe you are this annodyte. We don't know why they think it is you, but one thing is for certain- they want to kill you, and will stop at nothing to do so. The one thing you need to remember, kiddo, is this- Rakari are ruthless and they will try to hurt your loved ones," said Verdona watching both of her granddaughters.

"Why do they think I'm that annodyte? I mean, I can do magic but that's it. I'm not an alien," Younger Gwen insisted.

"I'm afraid you are, sweetie. You got your powers from me and somehow you discovered them years later. But they're nothing to be afraid of. You can do amazing things, most of which you still haven't learned," Verdona told her, bending down to her level, and tucking a stray hair behind one ear. At the last sentence she turned to look at the 16-year-old version of her granddaughter, smiling.

"Nice try, Grandma, but the answer's still no. I'm not going to Annodyne with you anytime soon," Gwen said, slightly stubborn.

Verdona laughed. "I thought not. And you seem to be doing just fine on your own."

"So, you want us to help you save the Earth from these rakaries?" asked Ben, turning the conversation back to the aliens.

"_Rakari, _and no," answered Paradox.

"We want you to protect your cousin," Verdona added.

"What? You said they'd try to hurt my family. I can't just sit around and do nothing while that happens!" Gwen yelled.

"Don't worry about them, sweetheart, the annodytes will protect them," Verdona tried to reassure her.

"And if we run into any rakari, it wouldn't be a good idea to have them around. I mean, remember when Zombozo kidnapped my mom? He almost killed her! We don't need something like that happening again," Ben told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"When, not if, Benjamin," Paradox corrected him.

"Question," Younger Kevin said suddenly, "Why the hell'd you bring us here?"

"Are you saying you'd rather be in the Null Void?" asked Paradox.

The boy's face contorted into a grimace. "No," he spat out.

"Very good, then. I believe Gwendolyn agrees," answered Paradox, looking past the three kids at the red headed teenage girl and smiled a knowing smile at her.

"Why would I agree?" asked the kid Gwen, looking at her older self curiously.

"Long story," she answered.

"Seriously long," agreed Ben, "Like how long Kevin's been helping us kick alien butt long."

Gwen glared at him but he ignored her.

"But to answer your question, Kyle,-"

"Kevin,"

"-whatever, I brought you here because with the aid of their technology, rakari can travel through time and dimensions as well as Paradox and I can. It wouldn't have been safe for you in your time. Especially after everything that has happened."

"And what exactly has happened?" the young girl asked, this time caution in her emerald eyes, like she knew what was coming.

"Again, long story," Gwen repeated.

"Also as long as I've been helping you?" the 12-year-old guessed, grimacing as his mouth twisted around the second to last word.

"Pretty much, yeah," agreed Ben, "And what do rakari look like, anyway? If we're trying to avoid them we should at least know what to look out for."

"You know you're just as obnoxious as you were when we were kids?" Gwen suddenly snapped at him, "They're masters of technology, Ben! Don't you think they'd be wearing ID masks?"

"Chill, Gwen. You know as well as I do that he can't help being a moron," Kevin smirked.

"Now you're dreaming," Ben told him, a smile appearing on his lips as he challenged the older teen, "I could beat you at anything any day of the week."

"Oh yeah? Prove it. I'll get my car and meet you back here in a half hour," Kevin's smirk widened. He had built both cars and had purposely made sure that Ben's wasn't faster than his.

"You're on, Levin!" Ben shouted, "But where are we going, anyway?"

Everyone turned to Paradox and Verdona.

"There's an old campground a few miles from here. It has been abandoned for years, and would make a perfect hiding place for anyone. You'll find a map in each car's glove compartment. And the best of luck to all of you," said Paradox, waving his hand in salute.

"Oh, and one more thing. Keep her safe," said Verdona, turning to face Kevin, "Rakari are lethal. Do whatever you have to in order to keep her from falling into their hands."

"You really think I wouldn't?" Kevin asked, just as serious as he had been when he found out who had murdered his father.

Verdona smiled a small smile. "You really do remind me of Max when he was younger. But we must be off now. Take care!"

"What did she mean by-" younger Gwen started, after the two grown ups had disappeared in another flash of bright light, but was immediately cut off by her idiotic 16-year-old cousin yelling: "See you at the campground!" and running off down the path that lead through the forest. Kevin started running after him, but Gwen grabbed his wrist with her manna and stopped him. He turned around, frowning at her. She was looking at him with an earnest expression on her face, and he understood. Ben had probably turned into Jetray or Big Chill and was already half-way to his house. By the time Kevin reached his place, Ben would already be at the campground.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get me to the garage," he told her and she smiled, moving her hand in the air again and taking them to Kevin's house.

When they got there the younger Ben groaned and said: "I thought I said no more traveling by energy portals,"

"That's life, Tennyson. We don't always get what we want," said the younger Kevin, but it was clear that he was enjoying the younger boy's misery.

Ben glared at the 12-year old, but then smirked, getting a brilliant idea on how to humiliate him, and asked: "So, your middle name's Ethan?"

Next thing he knew, he was staring at the ceiling of Kevin's garage with a swollen eye.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10! I SO wish I did, though.

_Previously:_

"So, your middle name's Ethan?"

Next thing Ben knew he was looking up at the ceiling of Kevin's garage with a black eye.

"Ben!" the older Gwen and Kevin yelled, rushing over to help him.

"You OK?" asked Kevin as he helped him up.

"Yeah, except for the black eye," Ben snapped, glaring at him.

"Psychopath!" Gwen screamed at the 12-year-old, who stood there watching his older self help his worst enemy. Gwen lifted her hand, ready to cast a spell at him, but the older version of her grabbed her wrist.

"Don't," she said in a warning voice, frowning down at her.

"Why not?" Ben snapped at her, sitting up and waving the older boy's helping hands away, "He _is _a crazy killer. Why do you guys trust him?"

"Ben's right, and you know it. Whatever happens to him in the future to make him all nice or whatever obviously hasn't happened yet," Gwen added.

"Would you quit talking about me like I'm not here?" Kevin snapped, glaring at all of them, his hands curling into fists.

The teens exchanged a look and the older Kevin said, "I think you guys better ride with Ben." His eyes never left the 16-year-old's and she nodded.

"I'll be back soon. Come on, Ben," she said, taking his hand, "Let's get out of here before you get another black eye."

Both Kevins smirked at the last statement, as an energy shield engulfed the other three and they disappeared.

"You know you just boosted his ego to a 110%?" Gwen snapped at her older self as soon as they were safely in Ben's garage.

"It's not Kevin's ego I'm worried about," she answered, leaning back on the hood of Ben's car, "He's been through enough to act like a total jerk only half the time. Ben on the other hand? Compared to him Kevin's a complete gentleman."

"Thanks a lot, Gwen," came a raspy voice from the doorway as Big Chill landed in the doorway, and quickly turned back into the older Ben, "What are you guys doing here, anyway? Thought you'd be riding with Kevin. Hey, what happened to my eye?" He pointed at the kid's swelling, black eye.

"Kevin punched him," said the younger Gwen, venom dripping from her words.

The older Ben frowned.

"Well that's not very nice," he said, tapping his chin with his index finger, "After all, I _did _save the entire Universe."

"Ben, you say that one more time, and _I'm _gonna give you a black eye. Do you understand?" the older girl snapped, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just saying that Kevin shouldn't have done that."

Everyone stared at him open-mouthed. It wasn't like Ben to be this calm, and his cousin could easily see through his act. She was, after all, dating a juvenile ex-con and recognized the overly smooth and innocent voice Ben was using. Plus the fact that his left eye was twitching.

She stepped back and started to cast the spell that would take her back to Kevin's garage.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Going back to warn Kevin," she answered, casting the spell and disappearing again.

As soon as she was gone the older Ben started laughing.

"What's with you?" asked Gwen warily.

"I know how we're gonna get back at Kevin," he answered between laughs.

"How?" Ben asked, excitement shining in his large emerald eyes.

"By NOT getting back at him!" The two cousins exchanged a look.

"I'm starting to doubt who the crazy one is," said Gwen, a wary look in her eyes.

"No, no, I might be onto something," said her annoying cousin, "Think about it! You're off warning him about how I'm gonna think of some awesome revenge plot, and he's gonna be jumpy this whole trip! And then, he's finally gonna beg me to get my revenge, just so he can finally relax, and then I tell him I already did! Genius!"

"You're insane! This is the kid that robbed like 10 places and blamed you for it! He conned you into being his partner, and almost killed a train full of innocent people. Don't you think he's gonna see this coming?" Gwen snapped, hands on her hips.

"I doubt it," said the older Ben, finally getting control of himself and opening up the backseat for the two kids. "He's not the same as he was five years ago. He's not a bad guy anymore. You pretty much took care of that when you told him to quit making those illegal deals with other criminals from outer space."  
"And he actually listened?" asked Gwen, as she and her cousin got in.

"Well, yeah," he answered, getting in the driver's seat and putting on his seatbelt, "I told you, he's changed. Hold on tight. This car's at least 50 times as fast as the Rustbucket."

And with that they took off, speeding through town.

Gwen arrived back in Kevin's garage to find both of him standing there, talking about who- knows-what.

"Hey, so Tennyson gone yet?" asked the younger version of Kevin. For some reason he seemed to trust her. Or maybe he was just worried she was gonna tie him to a tree again.

"Yes," she answered, a little frustrated, "And if I were you I'd be really careful the next time I see Ben. He's planning some sort of revenge scheme for you for giving him that black eye."

The two of them exchanged incredulous looks and burst out laughing. Gwen rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg, waiting until their laughter died down. Their childish behavior was extremely annoying.

"Gwen," the older version of him said, when he calmed down enough to talk, "I can take whatever your cousin throws at me. Don't worry about me." He reached out to gently stroke her cheek but she batted his hand away.

"If I didn't worry about you, you wouldn't be here," she snapped, her eyes almost swimming in tears at the memory of what had almost happened. Kevin's jaw tightened. He was remembering that night, too. But he wasn't remembering his jerk of a best friend almost killing him. He was remembering what he'd almost done to the one person who cared about him, the person who he cared about, more than anything.

Two feet away the 12-year-old was watching their brief exchange with wide eyes. He was curious as to what they were talking about, but had a feeling that he didn't really want to find out.

"I know," the 17-year-old Kevin breathed, stepping forward and resting his hands on her shoulders. She studied his face for a moment, and sighed seeing the sadness there.

"Ahem," said the boy. The two teens were brought out of their thoughts and stepped back, like they'd just been caught doing something they shouldn't. They seemed surprised to find the boy standing there.

"Anyway," Gwen quickly said, "Just be careful. He was using that tone of voice that you always use when you're either trying to act all innocent or playing some angle."

"Why Gwen?" he said, using that same voice that she had been talking about, "What on Earth are you talking about?"

Gwen glared at him while the younger Kevin snickered.

"Seriously, stop worrying. The guy's so easy to read I'll see it coming before he's even thought it out," her Kevin said, "Now, let's get out of here before I actually have to endure the humiliation of losing to Tennyson," he added.

Gwen rolled her eyes and muttered, "So juvenile," under her breath. She slid into the passenger's seat, the 12-year-old sat in the back, and Kevin in the driver's seat.

About 35 minutes later they arrived at the campground. This wasn't surprising, considering that Kevin drove like a maniac. Also, there was no Ben there, but he arrived almost as soon as they got out.

"Ha!" Kevin cried when he saw the brunette. "I win. What took you so long, anyway?" he demanded, crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back on his beloved car.

"Actually, you're here three minutes earlier than Paradox said you would be," came an old man's voice a couple of feet. The six of them turned to see the Rustbucket standing on the other side of the fire pit. In the doorway of the RV stood Grandpa Max, beaming at all of them.

"Grandpa Max!" exclaimed the younger Gwen and Ben, and rushed forward to hug their grandfather.

"Hey, kids! It's good to see you," he said, letting them go, "You too, Kevin," he added, smiling at the 12-year-old.

"Can't say the same for you, old man," he snapped, letting the hatred show on his thin face. Everyone stared at him in shock. Max frowned.

"Considering what a good man you turn out to be, and the situation we're in, I'm gonna let that go," he finally said. The boy shrugged.

At that moment, Verdona stepped out from behind him in the RV and smiled.

"Come, now, Max," she cooed, gently turning his face to look at her, "You can't blame him for having just a bit of fun. After all, a little goes a long way."  
She laughed, as if though she'd said something hilarious. The six kids were starting to question her sanity.

"What is she talking about?" the younger Gwen asked warily.

Max sighed and turned his head away from the annodyte, with noticeable reluctance, to gaze apologetically at the three teens.

"I'm sorry, kids. This wasn't my idea," he said, and stepped away from the doorway to reveal-

"Cooper!" the older Gwen exclaimed, running forward to embrace her friend. There was the slightest tightening in the 17-year-old Kevin's eyes, and the other four just stood there confused.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, letting go of him to look in his light blue eyes.

"Your grandmother thought it would be a good idea for me to come along, you know, since I can manipulate alien technology and all that," said Cooper lightly blushing, "Plus I just wanted to see you."

"Aww. How sweet," the younger Kevin smirked.

"Gwen's got a boyfriend! Gwen's got a boyfriend!" Ben laughed.

The kid Gwen glared at her cousin and old enemy, her cheeks a bright shade of red. From behind her an energy beam shot out, pinning her cousin to a tree.

"Hey! What gives!" he shouted, trying to free himself just as Kevin had done earlier.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it, Benji?" the boy snickered, clearly enjoying the discomfort of both cousins. Everyone ignored him.

"Stop teasing her," the older Gwen pretty much ordered him.

"Okay, okay! Just put me down!"

She smiled and the energy beam disappeared, making Ben fall flat on his face. Then she turned to the two teenage guys standing by the cars.

"So that's what I should've done back when the Hybreed were attacking," she stated, smiling an evil smile.

"Why do I feel like I'm gonna be spending half the trip being tied to a tree?" asked the older Ben to nobody in particular, "And why haven't you beaten up Cooper yet?" The last part he quietly whispered to Kevin.

"The kid saved my life," he answered just as quietly.

"So?"

"So, even you can't be dumb enough to think that I'd beat up someone who's helped me out, even if he is crushing on my girl."

"OK," said Ben, not bothering to pursue the topic any further, for fear of being overheard. The others were watching them questioningly.

"And what on Earth could be so important that you have to discuss right now that can't wait until after you've said hello to Cooper?" asked Verdona, a mischievous smile on her face that said she knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Nothing," Kevin answered, stepping closer to the blonde boy and shaking his hand, "Good to see you again, kid."

"Um, yeah," said Ben, following Kevin's example. Cooper gave them both small friendly smiles. The one he gave Kevin seemed slightly less friendly, though.

"Grandma, why is Cooper here?" asked the older Gwen, "And don't tell me it's for my own safety or whatever. Kevin worries enough about that." She crossed her arms on her chest. The younger Gwen and Kevin exchanged curious looks, but before they could ask, Verdona laughed and answered her granddaughter's question.

"He's here, because I thought it would be more fun for you." She smiled at the confusion in her eyes.

"What do you-Oh!" Gwen cried. It suddenly all clicked into place for her. For the past two weeks, if they ever went out anywhere, Kevin had been beating up every guy who even looked at her. And while that was sweet in its own way, Gwen was getting pretty tired of having to pry him away and drag him to his car before the cops arrived to see what was going on. Kevin was insanely jealous, and she knew that Verdona knew this. Cooper had a huge crush on her, and Verdona expected her to use this to her advantage. Meaning, whenever Kevin started acting like a complete jerk. But Gwen was nothing if not fair, and this certainly wasn't fair to Cooper.

Verdona misunderstood, though. She chuckled and whispered, "You're welcome."

"So, that's what you're sorry for, Grandpa?" the younger Ben laughed, "Bringing an old friend of ours who apparently has a huge crush on Gwen?"

"No," said Max, frowning, "Well, not exactly," he added hastily, looking at the stone cold expressions that the two older teens were exchanging, "But I'm more sorry for this."

He opened the door again, and there stood a fuming 16-year-old girl with chin-length black hair, and Japanese features. She was dressed in a white tennis skirt and pink hoodie.

"Julie!" the older Ben exclaimed, as she stormed down the three steps and came straight for him, jabbing her slim finger in his chest.

"YOU have a LOT of nerve Ben Tennyson!" she spat through her teeth, backing him further and further away from his friends until he tripped over his on feet and fell on the ground, causing both of the Kevins to start laughing.

"What did I do?" Ben asked, fear in his emerald eyes. A Hybreed invasion he could handle, an energy-obsessed Kevin he showed no fear with when fighting. But an angry girlfriend was enough for even the teenage superhero to start cowering in fear.

Julie didn't answer him, though. She just inclined her head over her shoulder back at the RV. There standing in the doorway was a beautiful girl with long blonde hair, green eyes, wearing a pink sleeveless top and white shorts. Ben's eyes widened.

"Eunice?"

"Hello, Ben," the girl said, coming over to tower over and glare at the boy.

"What does she have to do with anything?" asked Ben, frowning at Julie as he got up.

Julie's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Ooh, so not good," the older Kevin smirked.

"You're a dead man," the younger one added. Even though he didn't know what was going on exactly, it wasn't hard to guess. He wasn't clueless.

"You almost kissed her!" Julie exclaimed.

"And you never told me you had a girlfriend!" Eunice joined in.

"You might wanna stay out of this," said Gwen, hurrying over and gently pulling the girl back.

"Have fun, kids!" Verdona laughed, snapped her fingers and she and Max disappeared.

"Yeah, Jules!" Ben cried, "_Almost_! Besides, I thought we were broken up!"

"Don't give me that excuse!" Julie shouted back at him, "If that bounty hunter hadn't intervened, you would be dating her right now!"

"Come on, Julie," Ben begged, "You're overreacting. I mean, Kevin made out with Charmcaster and even Gwen wasn't this pissed off!"

"Hey, that's low, dude!" the older Kevin cried, "And besides, _she_ kissed _me_. How many times do I have to tell you that!"

"But you kissed her back," the older Gwen reminded him.

"You made out with Charmcaster?" asked the younger Gwen, turning on the 12-year-old, a murderous look in her eyes.

"Who the hell's Charmcaster?" he asked to no one in particular.

"I'm not overreacting! And she was mad! She just never got a chance to show it because he apologized! Which is what you should be doing right now!" Julie yelled in his face.

"Oh yeah, Jules, I'm so sorry I _didn't_ kiss that other girl!"

"It was, like, 80% her, 20% me!" Kevin tried to justify.

"Yes, but you still kissed her back!" Gwen snapped back.

"She's our old enemy who tried to kill Gwen and get her powers," the younger Ben explained.

"Oh, well in that case, sure I did," the 12-year-old Kevin said, smirking at the younger girl.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted! What I wanna know is why you're still here _helping_ us?"

"Whatever, princess," the older boy said, clearly enjoying this. Fights were what he lived for. If he was gonna join up with the Tennysons later on in life then they should at least have some idea of what they'd be dealing with, "Why do you even care?"

"Ugh, I can't believe you!" Julie exclaimed, "You are the biggest jerk on the planet!"

"No, you're thinking of Kevin," said Ben, using any excuse to insult his best friend. Julie slapped him in the face and stormed off in the other direction.

"Yeah, you're right," said the older Kevin, backing down. Everyone stared at him. Even the kids stopped their fighting. Kevin Levin never admitted someone else was right about anything.

"What did you just say?" asked the older Gwen looking at him in astonishment like everyone else.

"I said you're right. I still kissed her back. And I shouldn't have gone out with her in the first place. You know why I did, though, and I'm sorry," he looked into her surprised eyes and smiled a small smile.

"Yeah, I know," said Gwen relaxing and smiling back at her boyfriend, "But if you ever do something like that again, I will crash your car, as well as Ben's."

He swallowed audibly before answering, "Deal."

Gwen smiled even wider. Everyone was gaping at them. The younger Gwen smirked at the older boy and said, "Apology accepted."

He was too astonished to do anything else other than stare at her open mouthed.

Meanwhile, Cooper and Eunice were standing by, both trying to follow the three conversations. When it seemed like no one was gonna do anything else other than stare at each other, Cooper awkwardly asked,

"So, who wants smores?"

A/N: Writing this was so much fun! As usual R&R! The more reviews I get the faster I'll update!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the great reviews, guys! I'm sorry it was a little confusing who's saying what. Originally I was gonna do one chapter in the kids' POV then one in the teens, and so on. Then I realized that was gonna be really confusing to write and read, and I've already got my math teacher to confuse the hell out of me. I'll try to make this chapter longer. =) I really hope all of you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10!

The six teens and three kids sat around a fire making smores from marshmallows, cookies and chocolate Eunice had found inside the Rustbucket. Grandma Verdona had turned the entire place into something that resembled a cross between a log cabin and four star hotel and somehow managed to make more space on the inside than it looked like on the outside. The RV was now divided into two rooms, not including the bathroom. The living room/kitchen now had a comfortable, dark green couch and arm chair in front of a TV, lots of bookshelves covering the walls, most of them filled with books from Gwen and Julie's homes and video games from Ben and Kevin's. There was also a laptop on a desk in the corner. The floors were carpeted, and the walls were a pale beige. The kitchen area was bigger now too. There was a large circular dining table and nine chairs, a kitchen counter, microwave, cupboards, and a fridge stocked with real food and not the gross stuff Grandpa Max ate. On the counter there was a blender for making smoothies, mostly for Ben. (The fridge was thankfully loaded with soda.) The bedroom had four bunk beds, and one regular bed. It was quickly decided that that would be where Cooper slept. The walls were a dark green and the floor was wooden. At the foot of each bed there was a small rug. In the corner there were nine suitcases, one for each person. Inside were clothes and shoes.

"I just don't get it!" the older Ben whined to his best friend, throwing both of his hands up into the air, forgetting that one still held a sharp stick with a marshmallow on the end and not noticing it was on fire, "Why is Julie so mad at me?" Julie, fortunately, was whispering something to Gwen, who sat on Kevin's other side.

"She's mad 'cuz you almost made out with an Omnitrix core!" the older teen snapped at him. His girlfriend had made both him and his younger self to sit down with everyone else and make smores, actually forcing the sharp stick with the marshmallow at the end into their hands. Therefore, his overall grumpiness was understandable. He just didn't have the energy to put up with the whiny 16-year-old.

"Eunitrix," said 16-year-old corrected him, "And you said so yourself that she was good-looking!"

"Yeah," he agreed, as Ben watched the blonde girl and the 11-year-old version of his cousin play with a rabbit that had come out as soon as he had sensed Eunice's presence. Cooper, who was sitting on the teenage superhero's other side, was watching the two girls as well. On the younger Gwen's other side sat the younger Ben, arguing with the 12-year-old Kevin. It was just like old times for them. "But I didn't hit on her or try to make out with her!" the older Kevin pointed out.

The teen glared at him and the 17-year-old sighed.

"Look," he said, understanding that taking out his anger on his friend wasn't going to solve anything. Damn, those anger management Gwen made him go to every week really paid off. "You want my advice? Just say you're sorry."

"Like you did with Gwen?" the older Ben teased.

"You want to get a black eye from me in the future, too?" the dark teen snapped. Ben rolled his eyes and resumed their previous topic.

"But I didn't even do anything!"

"Does it look like she cares?" the older teen pointed his chin at Julie.

Ben sighed as he looked over at her, "I guess not. How do you keep Gwen from reacting so… irrationally?"

"I don't. If she gets pissed at me, I say I'm sorry and take her out for dinner. End of story," the older boy explained, shrugging, "By the way, dude? You're on fire." The brunette teen looked at his wrist, and realized that the marshmallow had burned, and the stick and his sleeve were on fire.

"Ah!" he screamed, getting up, pulling off his jacket and stomping on the flames. Everyone else looked up and laughed at Ben.

"I guess that proves it," laughed the younger version of his cousin, as he sat back down, and studied his now completely ruined jacket, "Not even time can cure Extreme Doofusness!"

The older version of her looked suddenly solemn. "Time heals everything," she whispered, repeating something that Paradox had told her a not-so-long time ago. For some reason, hearing her younger self say those words had struck yet another memory of Kevin and Charmcaster- when she'd gone back in time to save Kevin.

"What?" asked the younger Ben, noticing the change in his cousin.

"You OK?" asked her boyfriend, noticing it too.

The older Gwen quickly smiled and turned cheerful again, "I'm fine. But I guess the me from the past is right. Ben always has been and always will be an idiot."

"And a complete jerk," Julie added.

"And an obnoxious moron with an ego the size of Jupiter," added the older Kevin, smirking as he took his marshmallow off the stick and popped it in his mouth.

The older Gwen laughed, "Here, let me take that." She took Ben's jacket and took it inside, throwing it in the washing machine.

"Thanks," said the older Ben, smiling at his cousin before turning back to glare at everyone else, "When did this become an Insulting-the-Teenage-Superhero Campout?" he snapped.

"Actually it's just an Insult Ben Tennyson Campout," laughed Eunice.

"Yeah, Ben," Julie snapped, "In case your forgetting, Gwen and Kevin are teenage superheroes, too."

"Nah, they're more like side-kicks," the older Ben disagreed, earning himself a glare from his cousin. Two seconds later something hard hit him in the back, knocking him on the ground. He ended up with a mouth full of dirt. Kevin.

"How did he get landed with that title?" the younger Gwen snapped, pointing at Kevin, and ignoring the older version of her obnoxious cousin's insult.

"Well, let's see," said the older Ben, getting up again for the second time in two minutes, "He's saved your life, like 50,000 times, helped us save the Universe at least three times, and the world almost every other day. That answer your question?"

The girl just sulked, which Ben took as confirmation.

"Why've I been helping them?" asked the younger Kevin, speaking to his older self.

"Cuz it's the right thing to do, Kevin," the older Gwen answered, looking at him sympathetically. He'd been through a lot, and helping people wasn't something that he was used to. She was pretty sure she knew how hard it was for him to just sit there with his old enemies and try to comprehend that he would be doing this every day in a few years.

"Since when do I care about that?" he snapped at her. The older Kevin sighed and reached into his back pocket.

"This look familiar?" he asked, holding out his Plumber's badge

"A Plumber's badge? You know about the Plumbers?" asked the younger Ben suspiciously.

"More importantly, how did you get it? Unless you stole it, there's no way you could've gotten hold of one," the younger Gwen added, "And somehow I don't think you did steal this."

"You're right, I didn't. This was my dad's. He was a Plumber too," the older Kevin explained, turning it over in his fingers.

"Oh, that explains why you tried to kill us!" the younger Ben cried, "I mean first of all, the whole getting turned into an alien freak thing, but you said you hated your dad, that he and your mom threw you out on the street. You wanted revenge on the Plumbers!"

"Is that why you're like this?" the younger Gwen asked, turning to the 12-year-old.

"Hell, no!" he snapped at them, "The one who threw me out on the street is my step-dad. My real dad died on a Plumber's mission. And I ain't trying to get revenge on the Plumbers. Just you, you twerp."

"You're exaggerating," the older Gwen told him, "Harvey didn't kick you out. You left."

"And how would you know that?" the boy snapped at her.

"She knows, because I told her," the older Kevin answered his question.

"And why do I tell her?" The boy knew there was something going on between him and Gwen in

the future. He just had to find a way to prove it, and getting himself to admit it didn't exactly

seem like an unreasonable way of doing so. It might be embarrassing, but probably worth seeing the look on both of the cousins' faces

The older Kevin opened his mouth to respond, but the self-proclaimed teenage hero beat him to it, probably realizing that his friend was gonna say something stupid, like the truth about him and Gwen.

"You told all of us. In the future, trust isn't that much of an issue for you."

"But acting without thinking still is," the older Gwen scolded, glaring at him. He looked at her apologetically. Just about everyone there understood what he'd been about to say. Everyone but the kids, that is.

"Hey, didn't I actually have to remind _you_ once to think with your brain, not your fists?" he reminded the 16-year-old girl.

"Seriously?" laughed the 12-year-old boy, temporarily forgetting about what he wanted to find out.

"I find that a little hard to believe," Eunice agreed.

"You're not the only one," Cooper piped up.

"No, he's telling the truth. It was when before Aggregor attacked when we had to take down one of the aliens he'd kept captive," the older Ben explained.

"Who's Aggregor?" asked the younger Ben.

"He's this Osmosian freak who went insane after absorbing too much energy," explained the older Kevin.

"Osmosian?" repeated the younger him.

"Yeah. We had to take him down about two weeks ago," he explained.

"What's an Osmosian?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning.

"It's an alien species that can absorb anything," the younger Kevin explained.

"It's what you are," the younger Ben realized. The 12-year-old nodded.

"I got my powers from Dad."

"And that's also why you went insane. You absorbed too much energy," the younger Gwen added.

"Alright, now that you've uncovered some of Kevin Levin's deep dark secrets," the older Ben teased, "Can we talk about what we're gonna do next?"

"There's nothing to talk about," the older Kevin answered, "We're doing exactly what your grandma and Paradox told us to- keep Gwen safe."

"Never thought I'd live to see the day that Kevin Levin actually started acting reasonably," said his friend, smirking.

"That's something we have in common, Tennyson," the older teen replied, "But you heard what she said- those things will stop at nothing to get her."

"Which is exactly why we have to go to them," his girlfriend intervened, "If we don't stop them now, there's no telling how many people they'll hurt to get to me."

"I never thought I'd live to see the day I agreed with Kevin, but he's right. We're not going to run into some alien's hideout. It's too dangerous," stated Cooper.

"You're both being ridiculous," the older Ben snapped, "We've stopped a whole Hybreed invasion! We can take these things, too."

"Ben," said the older Kevin, looking at his best friend with pain in his eyes. He was again remembering Gwen's screams, "If those things were after Julie, what would you wanna do?"

He considered that for a moment, and realized that it was Kevin's guilt and overprotective nature (at least when it came to Gwen,) talking. He still felt horrible after what he'd almost done to her, and was afraid that if they went in, then the worst would happen.

"I guess I'd wanna keep her safe," Ben told him after a few moments of silence.

"Kevin? Can I talk to you alone for a second?" asked the older Gwen, looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"Sure," he answered, and let her lead him into the forest, where they could talk in private, "What is it?"

"Why do you not wanna go after those alien creeps?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"You know why," he told her, looking straight into her eyes. She did, too. She knew he wanted to protect her, and felt guilty for what he'd almost done to her. He tried to hide it, but it was obvious to both her and Ben.

"Yes, I do," she agreed, "But tell me anyway."

"I wanna keep you safe."

"That's exactly the problem, Kevin! Remember how you told me in the garage not to worry about you?"

He nodded. How could he forget? It had only happened a few hours ago.

"Well, now I'm telling you to stop worrying about me! I can take care of myself, and you know it!"

"Yeah, I know, but I still hate watching you put yourself in danger when we fight aliens, Forever Knights or whatever. Every time we get in a fight I see that monster hurting you in the arcade," he took a deep breath, "Don't make me go through that again, Gwen. I can't lose you."

She looked at his pained face and gently stepped forward, lightly brushing her lips against his.

"What was that for?" he breathed, wrapping his arms around her waist as she hugged him.

"I don't know," she said into his chest.

He smiled, "I love you."

She lifted her head and looked at him in surprise, "I love you, too," she stated, and he kissed her again, more passionately.

"Then I guess we're staying put," she said, completely out of breath.

He smiled. "Thanks. Now let's get back to camp before Cooper gets too worried about you."

"Cooper?" she asked, as he took hold of her hand and led her back to the fire.

"I'm not the only guy here who cares about you," Kevin reminded her, smirking.

"He knows he doesn't have a shot," the girl stated, rolling her eyes.

"He better," said the 17-year-old, and Gwen could hear the threat in his voice.

"Your Grandma has a twisted sense of fun, you know that?" he laughed half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I know. Getting Ben in trouble with Julie and making you jealous. It's really messed up."

Kevin had only registered the second part of her second sentence, though, and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What? I am not jealous," he snapped at her. She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Kevin, you are the very definition of 'jealous'. Three days ago you beat up a guy in the park who was standing across the street from us and staring at me," she reminded him.

"Exactly," he said, "It was creepy. The guy could've been a stalker."

"But he wasn't," said Gwen, still smiling, "He wasn't even watching me, but some other girl right behind me."

"I can't believe you actually bought that excuse," Kevin smirked, leaning back against a tree, getting ready for the long conversation ahead of them, "And it's not like I'm the only one who gets jealous. Remember Jennifer Nightlock? What was it you said to her right after we saved her life? 'I will peal you like a grape'?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you really want to head down that road?"

Kevin frowned, realizing that if they started talking about the celebrity who he had a crush on, nothing would stop her from asking about his old girlfriends, and that was something he'd rather discuss with Ben, hopefully while Gwen wasn't in a 5-mile radius. But then again, he was Kevin Levin.

"Sure. Why not? In fact I'm surprised your grandma didn't bring her here too," he shrugged.

Gwen glared at him. "You were all over her! If she would've actually asked you out, what would you have said?"

But Gwen never got a chance to find out, because out of the forest came the teenage version of the almighty bearer of the Ultimatrix with a curious expression on his face.

"What's taking you guys so long?" he snapped.

"Nothing. We'll be there in a sec," Kevin answered, grabbing his girlfriend's wrist to keep her from going back without finishing their discussion. Electric currents shot up her arm and she answered, "Yeah, sure Ben."

The brunette boy frowned at them but nodded and left.

"Well?" the red head asked, glaring at her boyfriend as she tugged her arm out of his grasp.

"Well what?" Kevin asked, frowning at her.

"What would you have said?"

He considered that for a moment and sighed. "No," he answered.

"No?" she asked. It was rare that Kevin surprised her even once a week, let alone twice in 10 minutes.

"I would've said no," he elaborated, stepping closer to her, "She's not worth losing you."

The girl smiled and hugged him again, "Good answer."

He laughed and they stepped out of the woods.

"Well," asked the younger Ben, "are we staying or going?"

"We're staying," the older Gwen answered, sitting back down next to her friend. Her boyfriend sat down in between the red head and her cousin.

"_You_ won an argument against _her_?" the older Ben turned to regard his cousin suspiciously. "Who are you and what have you done to my cousin?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Real mature, Ben."

"No, but seriously," said Julie, frowning at her best friend, "When you two argue you never lose. What happened?"

"Well, at least I have that to look forward to in the future," said the younger Gwen, smiling an innocent smile at the 12-year-old delinquent, who looked back at her with hatred in his eyes.

"Now that you've learned to win fights with Gwen, can you tell me how to get Julie to stop being mad at me?" the older Ben whispered to his friend. His cousin overheard him and smiled. She exchanged a look with Julie who also nodded.

"I can help with that," the older Gwen said, still smiling that evil smile, "Ben, apologize to Julie."

"What? That's completely unfair!" the 16-year-old whined.

"And Eunice too," the girl added, smiling at the blonde.

"But I didn't even do anything!"

"Dude," said the 17-year-old Kevin, smirking, "You're fighting against an all-powerful annodyte, a girl with a weapon as a pet, and an Omnitrix core. I don't have to be a genius to know to know this is a battle you can't win."

"Ugh, fine," he said, "I'm sorry."

"For what, exactly?" asked the younger Gwen, enjoying making this older Ben miserable just as much as she enjoyed making her own 11-year-old cousin miserable.

"Be specific, Ben," her older self added, clearly enjoying this as well.

"Julie, I'm sorry for-"

"Wait, wait!" cried the younger Gwen, and she and everyone else got out of the way so that they could watch Ben apologizing. Seeing him apologize to anyone was as rare as seeing a meteor crash on Earth. When no one was watching the Asian-American whispered something to the other girl, who nodded eagerly.

"Julie, I'm sorry that I almost cheated on you. Eunice, I'm sorry I led you on."

The blonde looked like she was about to cry, "You were leading me on? I thought you really liked me!"

"It's OK, he didn't mean it," said Julie, patting the girl on the back, "Ben's just a jerk that needs to learn to care about other people than himself."

"Hey, I do too care about other people!" Ben exclaimed, crossing his arms on his chest and glaring at them.

"Oh yeah? Didn't you try to kill your best friend two weeks ago?" asked Julie, narrowing her eyes at him. The older Gwen smiled.

"This was your idea, wasn't it?" the 17-year-old Kevin whispered to his girlfriend.

"What do you think?" she whispered back.

"That's my girl," he smirked. The 16-year-old teenage girl rolled her eyes but didn't bother to contradict him. He was right after all- she was his girl.

"Well, that wasn't my fault! He went crazy and almost killed us all!" the annoying teenager

snapped at her.

"Are they talking about me?" the younger Kevin whispered in surprise.

"Yes," the older Gwen whispered back, answering his real question, "In the future, you and Ben do become best friends."

The two boys exchanged surprised looks but quickly turned their attention back to what was going on in front of them, deciding that they would ask about it later.

"Still, you should've listened to Gwen and tried to help him. And since this is supposed to be an apology, you better apologize to them, too." said Julie. There was no trace of amusement on her face, but inside she was laughing hysterically.

"And Cooper, for making fun of him, too," added Eunice, having stopped crying and was now watching them both intently, knees hugged to her chest.

"That's even more unfair!" He was whining again, "Wait. How do you know about that?"

Eunice and Julie both glared at him for getting off-topic.

"Worst apology ever," stated the 12-year-old laughing, while the younger wielder of the Omnitrix was busy banging his head against a tree.

"Cut that out, moron," his cousin chastised him, "or you'll damage what little brain cells you have!"

The boy stopped, but one glance at his older self and he suddenly felt that being in the future was less cool than he had initially thought.

"I'm going inside," he said. The others barely heard him. They were too preoccupied with what was going on by the fire. All thoughts of smores and rakari were gone from their minds.

"Apologize!" Julie demanded.

"No!"

"Ben! Apologize right now, or I am going to burn every Sumo Slammers action figure, training card, DVD and video game I can find at your place as soon as we get to go back home!" Julie yelled.

"NO! Not my Sumo Slammers stuff!" Ben yelled, literally falling down on his knees in front of her. The younger Kevin and Gwen were laughing their heads off. It looked like the older versions of them weren't far from it either.

"Then apologize!" Eunice snapped at him. She was having just as much fun as Julie.

It was a miracle that the teenage superhero hadn't burst into tears.

"I'm sorry! Kevin, I'm sorry for trying to kill you! I'm sorry I borrowed your car last week to take Julie to the lake! I'm sorry I told Gwen you sleep with a stuffed toy car in your bed! Gwen, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you! I'm sorry I used to make fun of you! I'm sorry I told Kevin you were the one who left those candy wrappers in his car! Cooper, I'm sorry Kevin and I made fun of you for crushing on Gwen!" the older Ben cried. The thought of all his Sumo Slammers stuff going up in smoke was more than he could bear.

The teenage Gwen was grinning ear to ear as she exchanged a look with her friends.

"I think this ought to be enough," she laughed. Behind her, her boyfriend had a murderous look on his face as he approached the cowering 16-year-old.

"You stole my car and littered in it!" he yelled, grabbing the boy by the collar and glaring at his terrified face, "You're a dead man, Tennyson!"

"No way!" the younger Kevin cried, watching as his older self threw the boy back against the log, "The best part's coming!"

The 16-year-old boy quickly scampered away from him. He pressed down on the dial of the Ultimaterix, changing into Heatblast, and flying as far and fast as he could away from the enraged osmosian. Kevin absorbed the bark from a nearby tree and ran after his friend. The older Gwen tried to follow them, but Cooper grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"I'll go get them," he assured her, "You should stay here and look after them." He pointed to the younger Kevin and the 11-year-old version of herself. The 16-year-old girl frowned.

"I'm faster than you, and I don't think the power to manipulate alien tech is gonna come in very handy while chasing those two," she nudged her head in the direction the two teens had run off.

Cooper smiled, "I'm not gonna chase them on foot, Gwen," he said, rolling his eyes, "And you're wrong. This is _exactly _when my powers come in handy." He then walked over to Ben's car and waited. There was a small clicking sound and the car door opened. He got in and smiled.

"Be back soon," he promised and started the car's engine.

"Hey! Why's he stealing my car?" cried the younger Ben, coming out of the Rustbucket with a smoothie in his hand.

"You made Kevin mad and now he's chasing you through the forest," Julie explained, getting up and walking over to the three kids and her best friend with Eunice following behind her.

"What?" the brunette boy exclaimed, astonished to find that he'd rather run than face Kevin Levin.

"I can't wait for this future," the 12-year-old laughed.

"So, you sleep with a stuffed toy car?" the younger Gwen laughed. He glared at her.

"Yeah. Your cousin trapped me in the Null Void for a year, and then when I got out the first thing I did was buy a toy car. Get real," he rolled his eyes while she just smirked.

"Don't feel bad, Ben," said the older Gwen, lightly ruffling his hair and returning the conversation back to her cousin's embarrassing torture.

"Yeah," Eunice agreed, "Kevin has an enormous temper."

"Hey!" Kevin snapped at her while the 11-year-old girl giggled.

"Plus he gets a little over-protective when it comes to his car," the older Gwen added, smiling.

"My car? Really?" The ex-con asked in surprise.

"Yes, really," the girl answered.

"Hmm, I wonder how it looked from the side lines." Julie said suddenly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Best thing ever," stated Kevin, "If only we'd gotten it on tape," he added bitterly.

"Don't worry," said Eunice, smiling at the young boy, "You do get to experience it in the future," she pointed out. The dark haired boy brightened at this.

"You guys still haven't answered my question!" the 11-year-old boy whined, "Why did he steal my car and not his?" He pointed an accusing finger at Kevin, like it was all his fault that it wasn't his car that was in the hands of a technology controlling teenager.

"Because Kevin would've killed him if he had taken his car," the older Gwen answered, while Julie whispered to her, "He hasn't changed at all, has he?"

"No, not a bit," the red head answered, shrugging her shoulders at her friend.

"How did Tennyson get a girlfriend anyway?" asked Kevin, seemingly genuinely curious.

"It's so obvious that he has no idea what he's doing that it made me wanna give him a shot. And when he isn't being a jerk he's really sweet," answered Julie.

Kevin laughed and Ben looked like he was gonna kill the guy.

"How about we go watch Sumo Slammers?" suggested the older Gwen, feeling a little guilty at her role in her cousin's torture.

"Great idea," said Julie, smiling. Ben's eyes were almost glowing in happiness.

Just then a black and green car pulled up in front of the four girls and two boys. Kevin was sitting behind the wheel. No wonder they had gotten back so fast.

"Hey," said the older Gwen as the three of them got out of the car, "We were just about to watch Sumo Slammers."

"No time," her boyfriend answered, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to his car, "We need to get outta here."

"What?" she asked, as the 17-year-old opened the passenger side door and pushed her inside. Julie was getting forced into Ben's car as well, and Eunice and the kids got into the Rustbucket voluntarily, rather than being pushed in by Cooper. "Kevin, what's going on?" she asked when he was in the driver's seat beside her.

The teen's hands tightened around the steering wheel and he sighed.

"They found us," he said. The older red head was terrified, but not because of his words, but because of the way he said them. He didn't sound enraged like he had been when he found out Ben had borrowed his car. His voice was low and dangerous, like he was ready to kill someone, rather than punch them like he usually did. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she uttered her next words:

"Who found us?"

He started the engine and they drove off.

"The rakari."

A/N: It's not as long as I wanted it to be, but longer than my first few chapters. What do you think? R&R so I'll know!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks for the great reviews! They really made my day. Also thanks to everyone who favorited this story. It's a little annoying that you don't review, but thanks anyway!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been kind of busy making two projects for English, trying to keep two of my friends from getting held back a year, and getting hit in the head with a basket ball. Now, anyone who's ever been hit with a basketball by a super strong 13-year-old knows what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you're very lucky. Also, my mom told me we are gonna move to Paris in August. If it were anywhere else, I'd be more than happy to go, but, unfortunately, I've only taken Spanish and Russian, and don't know any French. Plus, I'm gonna have to leave my friends, and my grandma, who I love more than anything. Oh, well, that's life.

This chapter took me practically all night to write, and I hope you guys love it! =D

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10!

_Previously:_

"Who found us?" asked Gwen frantically, as Kevin sat down beside her in the driver's seat.

"The rakari."

Inside the RV, Cooper hastily got in the driver's seat, while the younger Kevin plopped down on the couch and the 11-year-old Ben in the arm chair. His cousin started pacing and Eunice leaned against the wall, her arms crossed as she watched the three kids.

"Gwen?" Cooper called from the front, "You might wanna sit down, now. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

The 11-year-old girl nodded and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Anyone wanna tell us exactly what we're running from?" asked the 12-year-old Kevin, lying down on the couch with his arms crossed behind his head, the perfect picture of ease.

"The rakari, of course!" the younger Gwen snapped at him, "And how can you remain so calm? We could get killed!"

"I've been running from dangerous criminals, gangsters, aliens- you name it- for all my life," he shrugged, "But this time, they're not gonna kill me, they're gonna kill you."

"He's right," said Eunice from the doorway. Everyone looked at her in surprise. "They wouldn't kill any of us. They'd take us captive, knowing Gwen would come after us, and when she does, start torturing us so she gives herself up."

The 11-year-old brunette smirked at Kevin. "Bet you don't feel so calm, now."

The older boy smirked back, "Oh, yeah. Sure I don't," he said sarcastically, "You've seen how she is," he added and nudged his head at the red head when the younger version of the bearer of the Omnitrix looked confused, "She wouldn't let them within two feet of me."

"The horrible thing is that he's right, again," said Cooper from the front seat, "She cares too much."

"Care?" snapped the younger girl, "About him? Are you out of your mind?"

Cooper sighed.

"I wish I was," he murmured, too low for any of the others to hear. He then turned on the communicator in his Plumber's badge, and said, "Where to, Kev?"

"There's a small town a couple miles from here," came the older Kevin's voice from the badge.

"Are you out of your mind?" came the older Gwen's voice, apparently talking to the 17-year-old Kevin and making the younger boys and two teens smirk and the younger girl sulk, "We're supposed to be staying away from civilization."

"He might be right, Gwen," came the 16-year-old Ben's voice, "Hiding in plain sight could be our best option."

"Ugh!" cried the 11-year-old girl, "That's the third time someone's said he's right in the past three minutes!"

"Oh yeah?" asked the older Kevin. They could literally hear the smugness in his voice, "What else was I right about?"

"You don't wanna know," said Eunice, smiling.

"Um, guys?" came the older Ben's voice from the badge, "I hate to break up your conversation, but I think they found us!"

Cooper and the 17-year-old both looked in their rear-view mirrors and saw something that looked like a giant, silver army tank following them.

"Oh, no," whispered the older red head, hiding her face in her hands. The 17-year-old turned off his communicator so they could have some privacy.

"Don't worry," he said, turning slightly as he took one hand off the steering wheel to take her hands away from her face and held one of them in his own, "I'll protect you."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," said Gwen, close to crying, "I don't care if they shoot me, but if they killed you…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Gwen," he said, turning his head briefly to look at her, "Nothing's gonna happen to either of us. I promise. OK?"

Gwen sighed. She knew that Kevin had no way of knowing what would happen out there, but appreciated his trying to make her feel better. She somehow managed a small smile, and nodded, "OK."

"Good," he said, smiling, "Now, I need you to get ready for a fight. Looks like it's gonna get ugly."

The 16-year-old nodded again, her face becoming cold as stone as she changed into battle-mode.

In Ben's car Julie was ignoring him.

"Come on, Julie!" the super hero whined, also having turned his communicator off, "It's not like we did it on purpose!"

"You, Ben," the Asian- American girl corrected him, "You did it. And you promised me that you'd asked him!"

"You know he would've said no!" the teen whined.

"You could've asked him to drive us," she pointed out.

"It's not worth the humiliation," the older Ben shrugged, keeping his eyes on the path.

"But apparently it is worth almost getting us killed," she said accusingly.

"Look, Julie, how many times am I gonna have to say I'm sorry?"

"I'll let you know when you get there," she answered curtly, signaling the end of heir discussion.

The tank was getting closer. It was so big that it knocked down every tree in its way, since the path they were driving down wasn't very wide. The cars had to drive behind each other, with Kevin's Camaro in the front, the Rustbucket in the middle and Ben's car behind them. Thank God the cars' speed limits all reached past 300 miles an hour. Soon they drove into a clearing, which was about as big as the campground they had just left. Only, outlining the edge of the trees were aliens with narrow eyes that looked just like a human's and faces that resembled lizards. Their legs looked like an Xlr8's, and their hands had only three long fingers each. They had slippery, shiny silver and purple striped skin, and at the top of their heads they had two long tentacles, each hanging down their backs like long hair. In their hands they held blaster guns, like the ones Kevin had traded to the Forever Knights about a year ago. These were without a doubt the rakari.

The cars stopped and so did the tank. Out of it jumped about ten more rakari, fully armed and, like the others, dressed in black jumpsuits with strange emblems that the teens couldn't make out on the left side of their chests. They went to stand with the others.

"What do we do?" whispered the younger Gwen to no one in particular.

"How should I know?" her cousin snapped at her, "This time, the aliens are after you!" But in truth he was just as terrified as his cousin.

Cooper turned the communicator back on and whispered to the older versions of Kevin and Ben, "What now?"

"We take 'em down and get her to safety. Sound easy enough?" the 17-year-old Kevin snapped.

"Maybe we should try talking to them first," the older Gwen suggested, "They aren't exactly attacking us."

"Gwen," her cousin said, clearly exasperated, "That didn't work with Kevin in the arcade, and it's not gonna work with them."

"Huh?" asked the three kids, first exchanging puzzled looks with each other and then frowning at Eunice. She just shrugged to show them that she didn't know anything either. The four of them turned to look at Cooper in confusion. He just sighed and shook his head.

"Don't ask," he told them.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Benji's right," said the older Kevin to his girlfriend. She sighed, knowing it would be pointless to try and argue with him. When it came to protecting her there was nothing Kevin wouldn't do.

"Coop, hit the red button. Top row, second from the left," the 17-year-old told him.

Cooper hit the button, and missiles appeared from several concealed compartments on the sides of the RV. The blonde teen fired them and the strange things- seriously! They made the mutated Kevin look normal! - got out of the way as fast as possible. They lifted their weapons and started firing at the cars. Lucky thing the windows were unbreakable. The cars drove straight forward.

"Can anyone tell me why we're not fighting these things hand to hand?" asked the younger Ben, "I'll bet Four Arms can do some real damage to these guys."

"Ben, don't!" exclaimed the younger Gwen, grabbing his wrist before he had the chance to slap the watch, "There are too many of them! You'll never be able to handle them on your own!"

"I won't be alone," he told her, tugging his hand out of her grasp. He turned to look at the younger Kevin, who'd sat up as soon as Cooper had pressed the button. "Feel like kicking some alien butt?"

"Translation," said the 12-year-old smirking, "'Wanna help me out?'"

"Whatever," said the boy, glaring at him, "You in?"

The younger Kevin's smirk deepened and he got up, absorbing the wall.

"Hell yeah," he answered.

The 11-year-old girl sighed in exasperation. "You do realize I'm gonna kill you, if those things don't do it first?"

"Sure you are," the 12-year-old said, rolling his eyes.

"None of you are going anywhere," Cooper announced, "She's right. You can't take those things on. Just sit back and let us handle this."

"Please?" added Eunice when she saw that the boys still weren't gonna listen to Cooper. The two boys sighed and sat back down. Both of them hated not doing anything. What's more, they hated being told they couldn't handle something and to leave it to someone else to defeat bad guys. Even if the someone else were themselves, only a few years older.

"And besides, Gwen's right about one other thing as well," Cooper added, smiling slightly, "She would kill you." It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was talking about the older Gwen.

"Yeah, right," said the dark haired 12-year-old rolling his eyes.

"Um, Cooper?" said Eunice, pointing out the window at some rakari that were nearing them. They looked scary and wild. There was no other way to describe them.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" snapped the younger Ben, looking outside frantically, "You control technology for crying out loud!"

"I don't even know what this car can do," Cooper said, his expression sad and wistful. He wanted to help just as much as the two boys. "Kevin fixed it up."

"Since when does he know anything about mechanics?" asked the red head.

"Since when doesn't he?" Cooper asked back.

Meanwhile, in Kevin's car, he was yelling at the older Ben over the communicators.

"Come on, you idiot! How hard would it have been to tell me that?"

"In my defense, you would have killed me," the 16-year-old answered. Ben had somehow broken all the weapons in his car, leaving it practically useless in battles.

"True, but then at least you could actually do something!" the older Kevin was absolutely furious with his best friend. The fact that the rakari seemed determined to wreck his ride wasn't helping either.

The older Gwen was sitting beside him, her head hung down, her hand against her forehead.

"Kevin, stop blaming Ben," she told him, "Just because- AH!"

One of the aliens had jumped onto the hood of the car and was trying to break the glass. What was more surprising was that it was trying to do it with its teeth. Kevin started turning the wheel in an attempt to shake the thing off. The car ran off the road and into the trees.

"Take the wheel!" Ben said to Julie, as she placed her hands on the wheel. He jumped out of the car, hitting the Ultimaterix.

"Wrath!" he yelled, turning into the tiger-like alien. He ran after the car and when he found it, jumped over the top, landing on the hood, just behind the rakarus.

"Take it easy, man!" the older Kevin shouted at him, stopping the car, "Paint job!" But Wrath wasn't listening. He grabbed the thing by its collar and pulled it around so that it was facing him.

"Let me tell you something, rakarius," Wrath yelled at him, "Nobody tries to kill my cousin and gets away with it! Except Kevin. And that was a special case. Although he was pretty damn dangerous-"

"Ben, focus!" his cousin yelled.

"Right!" Wrath said, coming back to his senses. He punched the alien in the face with one hand repeatedly, the other holding him in place. Soon something that looked like blood started pouring from his nose. Only the sticky liquid was a rich, dark purple.

"I swear to God, if he gets blood on the car…" the 17-year-old said through clenched teeth, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

"That doesn't look like blood," said the older Gwen quietly. She was torn between gratitude, disgust, and surprise.

Finally the alien slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Is it…?" the red head trailed off as she got out of the car along with her boyfriend. The older Ben turned back to normal.

"No," he answered, looking at the alien in disgust, "I didn't punch him hard enough to kill him."

"We should get back," said Kevin, glaring at the rakarus once before turning to go back to his car. The other two followed him, Gwen sitting in the front next to him, Ben in the back.

Meanwhile, Cooper was pressing every button in sight, and dodging trees and aliens at the same time. Julie was screaming at the top of her lungs, copying his dangerous maneuvers.

"How do you drive this thing?" she yelled into the communicator.

"Julie, calm down! Just press on the gas, and when you see a tree or weapon-wielding alien, turn the wheel," Cooper coached her, sounding close to panicking himself.

"I'm sure they'll be alright," said Eunice, sitting beside the younger Gwen at the dining table, "Ben's with them."

"That makes me feel so much better," said the 12-year-old sarcastically. The blonde teenage girl frowned at him.

"What happened with you guys?" she asked all three of them.

"What do you mean?" asked the younger Ben frowning back at her.

"I mean, why do you hate each other?" she elaborated, "When I first met you guys, you did argue a lot, but it was in a good, friendly way."

"Friendly?" the younger red head scoffed, "How is that even possible? He probably doesn't even know the definition of the word friend."

"Yeah, well, not everyone spends every spare second they have reading the dictionary," the 12-year-old snapped at her.

"I'm surprised you even know what a dictionary is," the girl snapped back, "When was the last time you even saw a book?"

"Last week," the boy replied just as sarcastically as before, "The Null Void's just full of libraries and book stores," He rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay," said Eunice awkwardly, as the younger girl glared at him, "But you still haven't answered my question. What happened with you guys?"

"Ben met Kevin in an arcade in New York," the younger Gwen told her, "He helped him by using his powers to damage some arcade game. Then Ben beat up some gang that was after him, got mad at Grandpa Max, went to with Kevin to rob some storage house or something, almost got caught by the cops, became partners with him, almost crashed a train killing millions of people, then Kevin absorbed the Omnitrix. A few weeks later we ran into him in San Francisco, framing Ben for a bunch of robberies. He turned into some kind of combination of Ben's aliens, and fell off the Golden Gate Bridge. We thought he was dead, but a few more days later, he turned up again, then he and Ben disappeared off to somewhere. I don't know what happened there. Then a few weeks later he sowed up with Vilgax, and we put them both in the Null Void. Does that about cover everything?" Her tone said she was clearly annoyed.

"Um, yes," said Eunice. The red headed girl had intimidated her before, but now, seeing her talk about someone who she displayed such obvious affection for in the future in such a way, the girl was truly scared. The girl's cousin was frowning at the floor, while the younger Kevin was staring at her with fury in his eyes. She seemed oblivious to this, though.

He stood up and spoke in a low and dangerous voice, "That doesn't even begin to cover anything. You have no idea who I am or what has happened to me."

"Your father was a plumber, who died on a mission heroically, and you're just a stubborn kid who would rather hurt people than help them. You said so yourself. Those aliens we're running from are after me, and you don't care. As long as they don't kill you, why should you?" the 11-year-old girl yelled at him, getting up as well and clenching her hands into fists. The 12-year-old was about to yell back at her, when the door of the RV sprang open, and an alien who was almost as tall as the older Kevin jumped in. The 11-year-old brunette boy immediately sprang up from the chair. The strange thing knocked him aside easily. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"Give me the girl," she hissed in a raspy voice, trying to grab the little girl, who was just a few feet away. The 11-year-old red head screamed, jumping back. The alien stretched out one long arm, using the other to support herself against the door frame. The younger Kevin reached forward and pulled the younger Gwen back against him.

"Get in the bedroom," he whispered. He had no idea why he wasn't handing her over to the aliens and quite frankly, couldn't bring himself to care. He'd worry about it later.

The girl stared at him with wide eyes, nodded, and ran into the back room. Eunice was hiding under the table, while Cooper couldn't do anything other than glance in the rear view mirror every once in a while to make sure no one was hurt. The younger Kevin absorbed the wall again and clenched his hands into fists. He swung out once at the rakarus, hitting her in the stomach. The alien staggered backwards, but didn't fall out of the RV. Another one was behind her, getting ready to jump in. She swung out at him, wrapping one slick, long hand around his wrist. The younger Kevin grabbed her arm with both hands and tugged her into the Rustbucket. She stumbled forward, caught off guard by the young boy's surprising strength. He kicked her in the stomach again, knocking her out the door and into the other rakarus behind her. They both tumbled outside and the 12-year-old shut the door.

At that moment, the older Kevin's car appeared from the forest.

"What's the plan?" Cooper said into his communicator.

"Just drive," the older Kevin's voice answered him. Cooper did as he was told. Off in the corner the younger Ben regained consciousness and Eunice ran up to him.

"What happened?" the 11-year-old asked, looking around, confused and disoriented. His cousin opened the door and walked back into the room.

"Some alien freak tried to get in and knocked you out. Kevin saved us." Her explanation was succinct and delivered in such a way that clearly stated that the young hero wasn't allowed to ask questions. Then again, Ben always had been completely oblivious.

"He saved us?" the 11-year-old asked, surprise evident in his green eyes.

"Yeah, he did," the 12-year-old answered in the same way the younger Gwen had. This time he took the hint and stayed quiet.

Suddenly a large white and red foot appeared beside the RV's window.

"What the heck?" exclaimed the younger Kevin, stumbling backward. He wasn't the only one that was surprised. Everyone stared out the window at the 50-foot tall red-and-white alien.

"That must be their plan," said Eunice, watching as everyone of the remaining rakari ran for their lives, "That's Ben. I recognize that… thing from when I was helping Asmuth. He said it was one of Ben's aliens."

It was indeed Ben. As soon as all the aliens in a 5-mile radius were gone, he stopped in the middle of a large clearing and turned back to his human self, waiting patiently for the cars to stop a few feet behind him.

"So, remind me again," said the older Ben, as they all got out of the cars, "Why couldn't I actually hurt any of them?"

The older Gwen crossed her arms and leaned back on the hood of the older Kevin's car.

"Because, they think I'm an evil annodyte, who's out to destroy them, and a giant alien crushing them doesn't exactly prove them wrong. They're just scared, Ben. People do extreme things when they're scared," the 16-year-old girl told him. The older Ben sighed, knowing his cousin was right.

Beside her, the 17-year-old Kevin smirked.

"You know, you sound exactly like you would've five or six years ago," he told her, still smirking. The girl then turned to him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked. He would've had to be an idiot to miss the warning in her voice, and Kevin Levin was no idiot.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, putting his hands up in surrender, his eyes widening in fear. He stepped back away from her and she gave him a satisfied and slightly amused smile. The younger Gwen and Ben were trying to contain their laughter, and failing miserably.

"Shut it," he told them in a menacing voice. The younger Gwen calmed down, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. The younger Ben, though, wasn't taking his threat seriously.

"You… She… Hilarious!" he managed to get out. The younger Kevin growled and curled his hand up into a fist, raising it and getting ready to punch the 11-year-old. The older red head gripped his wrist before he could swing.

"Don't," she told him as he looked up at her angrily.

"Ben, really, you should calm down," Eunice said, seeing an evil smirk appear on the older Kevin's face.

"She's right," said Cooper, "We're talking about the guy who beats up his best friend regularly."

"He's got a point," said the younger Ben, and everyone murmured something in agreement.

Finally the younger Ben got control of himself again enough to say, "How can he beat me? I've got the Omnitrix, and unless he absorbs it again-"

"There are other ways to torture you," said the older Kevin, "And if you don't shut up right now, you're gonna find out exactly what they are five years in the future." The older Ben gulped audibly.

"Ha!" exclaimed the younger Kevin, a smile replacing his enraged expression, "I love the future! Even if she does scare the hell out of me." He muttered the last part under his breath, but loud enough so everyone could still hear him. They all laughed, except for the two Gwens. The older one just smiled a small smile and rolled her eyes. The younger one glared and hit him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. The younger red head just smiled sweetly.

"Don't worry about it," laughed the older Ben, "She scares the hell out of everyone." He turned to smile at his cousin fondly. She rolled her eyes again.

"Speaking of things that scare the hell out of you," said the older Kevin, suddenly frowning, "Where's Julie?"

Everyone froze. Suddenly, they heard someone groaning and turned to see the Asian-American stumbling out of the woods with her hoodie balled up and held to her forehead.

"Ugh," she groaned. The older Ben ran over to her, catching her just before she tripped on a root.

"Julie! What happened?" he exclaimed, lifting her head and removing the ball of cloth to see a deep gash just above her left eyebrow.

"Ben, I'm so sorry," she said, looking up at his face pleadingly. He just looked at her concerned and confused.

"Sorry about what, Jules?" he asked gently, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to warm her up.

"The car… I crashed it and-" "You WHAT?" the older Kevin yelled, "Where is it?"

"A couple yards back, but-"

She didn't get the chance to finish. The older teen was already running back the way she had just stumbled out from. His girlfriend sighed and followed him, the three kids behind her. A few feet away they saw Ben's car crashed at the base of a tree. The older Kevin stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the vehicle. He whimpered, seeing the damage.

"Oh, Kevin," said the older Gwen, gently wrapping her long, slim fingers around his arm and laying her head on his shoulder.

"I…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say. He freed his arm from her grasp and wrapped it around her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I know how hard you worked on it."

After that they both grew quiet, not even noticing the three kids behind them take in the surprising scene before them. Everyone was very surprised to hear the younger Gwen say, "Can you, can you fix it?"

The two teens let go of each other and stepped back, like they were caught doing something they both knew they shouldn't be doing. The older Kevin scratched the back of his neck and assessed the damage to the car he had built for his best friend for his birthday.

"I don't think so," he announced, "But maybe some of these parts can be used for a new one," He suddenly smiled at the older red head. "It's about time I taught you to use a wrench."

She cocked an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me," she told him. He smirked.

"'Course I am," he told her, "Ben's the one who needs to learn to fix cars so he can fix 'em when he wrecks 'em."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes for the third time in ten minutes. The three kids came forward, apparently deeming it safe to go near the car.

The younger Kevin whistled.

"Boy, does that chick even have a license?" he asked, his eyes sweeping over the wrecked car. The older Kevin turned to look at his girlfriend and asked,

"Does she?"

The girl lowered her eyes and tucked a loose hair behind her ear, unable to meet his eyes.

"Well, no. But Ben has been teaching her."

The older Kevin cursed under his breath.

"It wasn't her fault, Kevin-"

"'Course not," he sighed and then smiled at her, "Julie's not the one I'm mad at." He assured her.

"Well, okay," said the girl, still a little unsure, "But don't beat up Ben anytime soon. We don't need another rakari attack." She glared at him, hands on hips.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "I'll take care of Benji when you're safe," he promised, laughing slightly, "C'mon. Let's get back to camp." The older teen took her hand and pulled her back to their new campground.

While they were walking, the older Gwen was silently fuming. She had come along to make him feel better, and now he was laughing! The car he had built for Ben had been almost as important to him as his own car, and he had grieved for what? Ten seconds?

_What's up with him?_ She thought, frowning to herself.

_It was you, _a small voice in her head answered, _He always puts you first, remember? And right now, making sure you're safe is his top priority. The whole not caring thing is an act. He knows how much you care about him, and doesn't want you to worry. You know this!_

The 16-year-old felt guilty about thinking such selfish thoughts, even if they were true. Boy, dating Kevin was hard and complicated. Oh, well. No one said love was gonna be easy.

Back at the Rustbucket, everyone was inside. Julie was sitting in the arm chair, and Cooper was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, stitching up her wound. Ben was holding her hand and smiling at her. It was a calming smile. One that easily said, _Don't worry, this'll be over in no time._ If nothing else, then his bedside manner was impeccable.

"…too bad, though. It was a nice car. Kevin's probably gonna kill me for letting you sit behind the wheel," the teenage superhero said.

"He knows it wasn't your fault," said Julie, "Ow!" she cried after Cooper had stuck the needle into a particularly sensitive spot in her eyebrow.

"Sorry," said the blonde boy, "And you know as well as I do that Kevin won't care about that. He just needs someone to take his anger out on."

"You sound like Gwen," laughed Eunice. She was standing at the kitchen counter, making hot chocolate. It was hard to believe they'd just escaped death by an inch. The circumstances seemed too…normal. It was easy to imagine that Julie had just been learning how to drive, rather than fleeing from a bunch of nefarious aliens, intent on killing her best friend. Especially since now that Cooper was stitching her up, they weren't discussing these aliens. They were talking about something completely normal- Kevin's out-of-control temper and Gwen's ability to make almost anyone see reason. Eunice liked feeling normal. It reminded her that she was human, not just a machine prototype created by the smartest being in the universe. "She'd be saying the exact same thing."

"No, she wouldn't," Cooper answered, "If Gwen were here, so would Kevin, which would mean that she'd be trying to keep him from strangling Ben." He chuckled.

"You're right," Ben said, laughing as well, "Then that would be the second time Kevin's almost beaten me up in one night."

"That'd probably be a record for him," Julie joined in, laughing with her boyfriend and friends. She tried to keep perfectly still so that the stitching wouldn't hurt too much.

"No," Ben disagreed, still smiling "His record is the same guy, three times a day."

"How do you know?" asked Eunice.

"Let's just say there was a guy at Gwen's school who just couldn't take a hint."

"Yeah, he was a new kid," said Cooper, "I swear, all guys who arrive in Bellwood should be given a handbook on how to not get beaten up by Kevin Levin."

"The only thing is, no one's figured out how to do that yet," said Ben, "Well, except you, of course," he added hastily.

"Yeah," Cooper said again, "Eunice? Can you hand me the scissors?"

"Sure," the girl answered and opened one of the kitchen drawers, taking out a pair of scissors. She handed it to him and he cut the thread.

"There, all done," said Cooper, smiling at Julie as he sat back on the couch. He then turned back to Ben. "Anyway, the only reason Kevin hasn't beaten me up yet is because of Gwen."

"No, it's not," Julie disagreed, "He's grateful to you for saving his life when, well, you know…"

"When did you save his life?" asked Eunice, looking at the boy as if though only politely curious. From what she could understand, Cooper had an enormous crush on Gwen, Kevin and Gwen were dating, and Kevin and Ben used to hate each other. Why were they friends now? What had changed? If Gwen had hated Kevin so much, why wasn't she with Cooper? These questions were swimming inside her head, and she felt like she would burst if they weren't answered right at that moment.

Unfortunately for her, at that moment, the door burst open, and in walked the three kids and the older Kevin and Gwen. Her questions would have to wait for later.

"Hey," said the older Kevin as he took a chair and spun it around so that he could prop his chin up on the back of the seat. The older Gwen sat on the arm of the couch next to Cooper, crossing her arms on her chest. The younger Kevin sat on the edge of the coffee table where Cooper had just been sitting, while the younger Gwen took one of the dining room chairs and sat down on it, propping her head up on her hands, elbows on the table. She was thinking hard, and this wasn't uncommon for her. Her cousin sat down next to her, knowing full well that when Gwen's forehead scrunched up in concentration she was as good as dead to the world.

"What, no 'You're a dead man, Tennyson!'?" asked the older Ben, his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders, like he wanted to use her as some sort of shield against his bad-tempered friend.

"Nope," the raven-haired teen answered, popping his lips on the p, "But don't worry, Ben, you'll get what you deserve later." He had an evil smile on his lips. Ben cringed in fear.

"Anyway," said the older Gwen, "What are we gonna do now? The rakari know where we are. We should get moving before they come back."

"Come on, Gwen," the older Ben started whining again, "Can't we just stay here for a few hours? They're probably expecting us to leave. Maybe it would be safer if we just stay here for one night."

"Benji's right," said the older Kevin, "If there's one thing about bad guys, they never think to check the place they just checked. They're never thorough."

"And you know this how?" said the younger Gwen, snapping out of her daze.

"Years of experience," answered the younger Kevin, smirking at her.

"Cocoa's ready!" yelled Eunice, taking a bag of mini-marshmallows and adding two to each cup of hot chocolate. She set the mugs on a tray and the tray on the table, taking one for herself and sitting down in the nearest chair.

The older Kevin took a mug and handed it the older Gwen who smiled in gratitude and softly blew on her chocolate. Everyone else had to get their own mug.

"So, we're staying here until tomorrow?" she asked, taking a cautious sip of the dark liquid.

"Yeah, so everyone, drink your cocoa and go to bed," said the older Kevin in a mockingly stern voice, causing everyone to laugh and the older Ben to choke on his cocoa.

"AGH! Hot!" he yelled, shooting up and jumping from one leg to the other, waving his arms around. His chocolate spilled on the floor.

"Ben!" his cousin exclaimed, "Look what you did! That's gonna leave a stain!"

"Oh, jeez," said the 16-year-old sarcastically, "A stain in the carpet! Whatever will we do! Getting chased by 50 aliens, yeah, no big deal, but a stain in the carpet! Now the world's gonna end for sure!"

The red haired 16-year-old glared at him and sighed, "That's very mature Ben," she said.

"Mature, shmuture," said the teen, rolling his eyes, "Meanwhile, my tongue is burning OFF!"

"Of course it is," she said, rolling her eyes, "Well, I'm going to bed. Anyone want the rest of my cocoa?"

"Sure," said the older Kevin, reaching his hand out for the mug. It was strange that the mugs were almost as hot as the hot chocolate itself, but Kevin didn't even seem to feel the heat. It was probably some kind of osmosian thing.

"Good night. And the chocolate was great, Eunice," she said, smiling at the girl, handing over the mug and heading to the bedroom.

"I'm gonna go to bed too," said Julie, taking her mug with her to the bedroom.

"G'night, Jules," said the older Ben, smiling at her.

"Good night," she answered, smiling back at him before disappearing into the next room.

"What did you do?" the older Kevin asked, an amused glint in his obsidian eyes.

"What? Nothing!" the brunette teen answered, shooting him a slightly fearful look, "Why?"

"Taking into account that she just went to talk to Gwen, yeah, you did," the dark teen answered.

"They said they were going to bed," said the older Ben, frowning at his best friend.

"'Course they did. That way they don't have to worry about us barging in."

"Since when are you an expert?" the younger teen snapped.

The older Kevin smirked, "Alright, don't listen to me. But if I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open. No telling what Gwen could do," the osmosian was clearly enjoying this, but the wielder of the Ultimaterix didn't seem to notice.

"Oh no. I'm in trouble and I don't even know what for!" the older Ben exclaimed, getting up and pacing the length of the room. The older Kevin was trying to contain his laughter, but the younger Kevin made no such attempts. He was laughing so hard he almost fell to the floor. The younger Ben glared at him, when he finally managed to stop laughing.

"You just love making my life miserable, don't you?" he snapped at the 12-year-old.

"Oh, Tennyson," he said, trying not to burst out laughing again, "You just make it too easy."

"Sh," the older Kevin told them before turning back to the worried teen. By now everyone except for the younger Ben was laughing at him.

In the next room, Julie was sitting next to the older Gwen on her bunk, talking about Ben. Who knew? Kevin was right.

"…and I can't believe he lied to me about taking Kevin's car. But I guess it's sort of my fault. I am the one who wanted to go to the lake," the girl hit her head against the palm of her hand.

"Don't worry about it. Kevin would beat up Ben even if you said that you told him to go help us just because you wanted to drive his car," the red head laughed.

"I guess you're right," said Julie, smiling at her friend and hugging her. The older Gwen smiled and hugged her back.

"Come on," she told her, "Drink your cocoa and let's get ready for bed. You must be pretty wiped out."

"Yeah, I am," the short-haired girl agreed, taking her mug off the bedside table and drinking the last of her hot chocolate. The older Gwen took the rubber band out of her hair, letting it fall freely down her shoulders and went to open one of the nine suitcases in the corner. Luckily, they all had the name of the person who each suitcase belonged to sewn on the front of them. She took out hers and set it on her bed, cursing herself for not calling Kevin to help. That thing was probably heavier than her!

She opened the suitcase and-

"AGH!"

"Gwen, what's wrong?" Julie exclaimed, hurrying over to her friend and peering into the suitcase. She gasped.

"Oh, my God," she whispered, staring inside with a slightly amused look on her face. More than half the stuff inside was lingerie, and what wasn't looked like the sluttiest, shortest, and tightest clothes in the world. Most of it was black, and the stuff that wasn't, was either in bright colors or very dark. Some of the shorts, though, were white, and a few tops were pale pink, like Eunice's. Most of the shoes were high heels, but- thank goodness- there were two pairs of flats and three pairs of sneakers. For some reason, there was also a baseball bat, a make up kit and a toiletries bag that strangely seemed to lack rubber bands for Gwen to hold her hair up.

"Gwen?" came the older Kevin's voice from the doorway. He looked concerned as he walked in and closed the door, seeing that there were no aliens around, "What happened? I heard you screaming."

Julie looked at him, smiling and ready to explain, when a horrible thought occurred to her: What if the same stuff was in her suitcase? She quickly ran to the pile of suitcases, found her own, pulled in front of her and opened it up. Yep, the same stuff but in different colors. Only instead of the baseball bat, there was a tennis racquet.

"Oh no!" she cried, sitting back on her knees, like the older Gwen.

The older Kevin frowned at them both and walked over to his girlfriend and peering down over her shoulder. He smiled like a child who had gotten something from his grandmother that his parents had told him that he wouldn't be getting in a million years.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I love your grandma?" he asked, chuckling. The red headed teenager looked up at her boyfriend furiously.

"Kevin," she said warningly. When her tone didn't cause him to stop laughing and wipe the amused and lustful look off his face, she grabbed the baseball bat and started hitting him repeatedly with it.

"Ah, Gwen! Cut that out!" he exclaimed, running from the room with the older Gwen chasing him. They ran through the living room and outside. The six others who were there stared at them in surprise.

"Get back here, Kevin!" the older red head screamed.

"Remind me to never let you near a baseball bat ever again," said the older Ben to the younger version of his cousin. She just smirked.

"What do you think that was all about?" asked Eunice, looking out the window. It was a very comical sight- a 17-year-old teenager, strong enough to lift a car, running from a 16-year-old girl with a baseball bat who was half his size.

"Well, that's what you get for messing with Ben's mind," said the younger Gwen in a sing-song voice. The 12-year-old glared at her.

"No, that's not why you're chasing him," the older Ben replied, "Kevin tortures me every day of the week, and you never say anything."

This made the 12-year-old smirk, and the younger red head glare at him.

"Then why is she chasing him?" asked the younger Ben. He was secretly proud of his cousin for terrifying Kevin Levin so much.

"I don't know. I'll go check on Julie," said the older Ben and went into the bedroom.

"We better make sure she doesn't actually kill him," said Cooper, getting up and leading Eunice to the door.

"She wouldn't do that, would she?" asked Eunice, fear in her beautiful green eyes.

Cooper looked at her once with a sad expression on his face, "Not to him," he said gently. Eunice looked confused for a minute, but then nodded apprehensively and left with him.

The younger Ben yawned and stood up stretching. "Well, I'm going to bed," he announced, then looked out the window to see that the sun was slowly rising. Had they really been up all night?

At that moment the older Ben ran out of the room, just as the older Kevin had done, with Julie chasing him, just as the older Gwen had done. Only instead of a baseball bat she was holding a tennis racquet, and had a murderous expression on her face.

"Julie, come on, that didn't mean anything!" he exclaimed, nearly tripping on the couch in his haste to get out of there.

"Of course not," she said, lifting up her racquet, preparing to hit him.

"AH!" the 16-year-old screamed like a fan girl and ran out as fast as he could, Julie hot on his heels.

"OK… that was weird," said the younger Gwen.

"At least now maybe I can get some sleep," said the younger Ben, rubbing his eyes and stumbling to the bedroom, leaving the younger Gwen and Kevin alone. He was too tired to think about what could happen with Kevin still being evil and everything.

An awkward silence settled over the two kids. Finally Gwen spoke up.

"Thanks," she said looking at the table, her hot cocoa, anywhere but at him.

"For what?" he said, surprised. Unlike the red head, he was keeping his dark eyes practically glued to her.

"For saving me," she answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "Why did you?"

He turned his gaze to the floor, searching his mind for a reasonable explanation as to why he had protected her. When he had done it, he had remembered the older Kevin's face when the older Gwen had reminded him that if she didn't worry all the time, he wouldn't be there. He had been thinking of the fierce expression on his face when he announced the rakari were coming. There was no denying that he cared about the girl in the future. So did that mean that he cared about her now? No, of course not. She had called him a stubborn kid who only cared about himself. And on top of that she was Ben's cousin. She had helped him put Kevin in the Null Void, tried to hurt him. He didn't care about her. He couldn't. But that didn't stop him from caring about her in the future.

"Because if you die now, then that would change the future," he finally said. It was true. Who knew what would happen if one of them died in the future now.

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry about what I said before they attacked."

This caught him off guard, again. Determined not to show it, he shrugged and answered, "No big. I've been called worse."

She cracked a smile and nodded, "I can believe that. What happened to you in the Null Void, anyway?" She finally turned to him, seeming genuinely curious, "How did you get your powers, and turn, well, normal?"

"Normal?" he asked, looking at her with amusement shining in his eyes, "I'm stronger than any other kid my age, and I can absorb anything. To you that's normal?"

"No," she answered, smiling, "It's normal for you."

Man, this girl was just full of surprises. One moment she was yelling at you and acting like the spoiled brat Kevin knew her as, the next she was talking to him like they were old friends or something like that.

"How would you know what's normal for me?" he snapped at her, getting up and balling his hands into fists. The spell was broken. They were enemies again.

"Your dad died when you were a kid. You've been living on the streets since you were what, five? I'm gonna bet that this is as normal as it's ever been for you," she said, getting up, hands on her hips.

"Don't talk about my dad," he hissed at her.

As if though to spite him, the next words out of her mouth were, "What happened to him?"

"Why do you care?" the boy's words were cold as ice and she looked taken aback.

"I don't care," she said defiantly, crossing her arms on her chest.

"I think you do," he said, leaning forward, an amused glint in his eyes. For him, this was a more comfortable subject.

"No, I don't," she said, a sneer on her face.

"Yeah, you do," he said, stepping closer to her, "You like me, don't you?"

For a moment, fear flashed in her emerald eyes. It was quickly replaced by anger and annoyance, though, and a moment later an evil smile.

"Oh," she said, almost too innocently, "I think you have something messed up. You like me. That's the real reason you saved me, wasn't it?"

"What?" he exclaimed, looking at her with a shocked expression on his face.

At that moment the door sprung open and in walked the older Gwen and Cooper, supporting a barely conscious 17-year-old Kevin. After them came an angry Julie, dragging behind her a broken tennis racquet. After her came Eunice, who was carrying the baseball bat, and the older Ben who was, shockingly enough, almost unscathed.

"What happened?" asked the younger Gwen, turning to look at the teens.

"Well, Julie beat me with a tennis racquet until Eunice pulled her off me, and we're pretty sure you broke Kevin's leg," answered the older Ben, as his cousin and Cooper lowered the dark teen onto the couch.

"Do we have any ice?" asked the older Gwen, looking at her boyfriend anxiously.

"Yeah, I saw a few ice packs in the freezer," said Eunice and ran to get them. She rummaged in the freezer for a few moments before pulling out two ice packs and tossing one to the older Ben and one to the older Gwen, who held the bag to the older Kevin's head.

"Where's the other Ben?" asked Julie.

"He went to sleep," answered the younger Gwen as the 12-year-old shot her a look that clearly read, _See how she's taking care of him? And you tried to tell me you don't like me._

The girl shot him an expression that said, _We'll just see._

"Good. You two should be in bed, too," said the older Gwen, not taking her eyes off the older Kevin, who had his eyes closed.

"Yes, Mom," said the younger Kevin, turning around to go to the bedroom just as the younger Gwen passed him.

"Shut up," she snapped at him, while he just shook his head in amusement. As he walked past the couch, the older Kevin opened his eyes to look at the 12-year-old.

"Psst," he said a small smile on his lips. He was acting like no one in the room could hear him, while it was obvious that they all could.

"She's good, isn't she?" he said, smirking.

"Hell yeah," said the younger Kevin, shaking his head in amusement. The older Gwen just sighed.

"I think he might have a concussion," she said to Cooper, who was inspecting Kevin's leg. The older Kevin smirked and rolled his eyes while the younger one left.

"By the way, where did you get the medical training?" She turned to look at the blonde boy slightly admiringly, who looked up from the Kevin and flashed a bright smile.

"My mom's a doctor, remember?" he said and turned back to the leg, "I don't think it's broken, just badly sprained. You got him pretty good, Gwen." There was no missing the satisfaction in his voice.

"Yeah, nice job, Gwen," said the older Kevin, glaring at his girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry, Kevin," she said, "I guess I just got carried away." She cradled his head in her arms.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse," he answered, taking his head out of her arms and putting one arm around her, pulling her head into his lap, making it very hard and uncomfortable for her to hold the ice pack to his head.

"Kevin," she said. The older red head didn't even need to say the words. He understood that she wanted him to let her go, but then again, he was Kevin Levin. He reached up and pulled the ice pack out of her grasp and tossed it into the trash can, which stood just beside him.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," he explained, shrugging and looking down at the annoyed red head in his lap. She looked very funny, not that Kevin would ever tell her that. The girl rolled her eyes and then turned so that she could somewhat comfortably look at Cooper.

"So, anything else serious?" she asked.

"Not that I can tell," he answered, "Just don't move anywhere for the next two days or so, and you'll be fine," he told Kevin.

"Great," said the older Kevin, "Just get me to my car and I'll be fine."

"Um, Kev?" said the older Ben, exchanging a look with his cousin, who was trying to sit up, but to no avail, "I think that means you're gonna have to stay in the Rustbucket for the next two days."

"What!" the older teen exclaimed, gripping Gwen so hard he was almost crushing her.

"Ow, Kevin," she complained, shifting again and glaring at him. When she saw the expression on his face, she softened, though.

"Don't worry," she said, gripping his large hands in her small ones and sitting up to look at him. "I'll take care of your 'ride'." You could just hear the quotation marks around the last word. The older teen still looked worried. The older Gwen pretended to be hurt.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course I do, Gwen," he answered, sighing and reaching in his back pocket for the keys. She smiled as he handed them over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. Now, come on, I'll help you to bed," she said, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Um, Gwen?" said Cooper awkwardly, "When I said anywhere, I meant, _anywhere_."

"Oh, okay," said the girl and turned back to her boyfriend, "Looks like you're gonna have to spend the night here."

"Woop-de-doo," he said, rolling his eyes as everyone started to go to the bedroom. The older Gwen stood up and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry. Good night," she said, bending down to kiss him gently on the lips. Almost immediately, she felt sparks fly as they kissed. He smiled against her lips and just barely stopped himself from pulling her back into his lap and making out with her until it was time to head for the town. When she pulled away he smiled and pointed with his thumb to the window.

"Don't you mean good morning?"

She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. The blinds shut and the lights went out, giving off the illusion of night.

"I mean good night," she told him, smiling and heading into the bedroom after everyone else.

The older Kevin sighed and lay down on the couch. It was gonna be a long night.

A/N: Wow. That was the longest chapter I've ever written. Hope you guys enjoyed it! As usual, review! =)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Wow, you guys are demanding. And I love you for it! Virtual cookies for all you reviewers! I'm in a good mood today. YAY FOR SPRING BREAK! Now onto the story!

The younger Ben lay in bed after the exhausting day and night he had just had. Even when he and Gwen had been traveling around the country with Grandpa Max he hardly ever had to stay awake for 24 hours straight!

The 11-year-old boy had been deeply asleep for about five minutes, when his cousin and the menace from hell, Kevin Levin barged in, arguing and waking him up.

"I can't believe you called me that," snapped the younger Gwen. The younger Ben opened one sleepy eye to see his cousin kneeling down by the suitcases and searching for her own.

"How is that possible?" the younger Kevin exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in fake exasperation, "You were there!"

"I mean, you shouldn't have said that!" the girl snapped back, turning to glare at him.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I do a lot of stuff I shouldn't do," the 12-year-old stated, rolling his eyes, hands in pockets.

"Ugh, do you guys mind?" the younger Ben suddenly cried, shooting up in a sitting position on the upper bunk. He knew that there was no way he was gonna fall asleep with their yelling, "I am trying to sleep!"

"No, Ben, you're not bothering us at all," said the younger Gwen sweetly. The younger Kevin laughed and the other boy fell back, his head hitting the pillow with a soft _thump!_

"Well, since you woke me up," he said, turning over once more and looking down at them, "What's going on out there?"

"Nothing much," answered Gwen, shrugging, "I kicked Kevin's butt, and now Cooper's trying to fix his broken ankle."

"What!" exclaimed the younger boy, "I gotta see this!" He jumped down from the bunk and ran to the door, opening it a crack. He couldn't see much, other than the older version of his cousin holding an ice pack to the older Kevin's head. He had several bruises, looked barely conscious, and Cooper was checking out his leg.

"No way!" the younger Ben exclaimed, closing the door to stare at his cousin with wide eyes, "YOU did that to Kevin Levin?"

"Well, not yet," said the younger Gwen, shrugging again and dragging her suitcase to the middle of the floor and opening it, "But I will in five years. Oh, look! A baseball bat!" She took the object out of the suitcase and turned back to Kevin smiling devilishly.

"Don't you dare," he told her, narrowing his eyes. She glared at him and sighed.

"Whatever," she said, putting the bat back in the suitcase. Something in the older boy's eyes told her that if she did dare, she was gonna regret it. Even if he had saved her life, he was still Kevin Levin- the guy who did horrible things for no good reason. And Gwen knew better than to challenge someone as mentally unstable as him, despite how bold she had been just a few moments ago.

The girl turned to put the bat back in the suitcase and gasped. Inside she saw clothes that were mainly made of silk, cashmere, cotton and denim. There was one very elaborately styled dress that looked like it was from Colonial Times.

"Wow," she said, smiling as she looked through the stack of pajamas that Grandma Verdona had left for her. The two boys watched her in mild amusement and confusion. What was it with girls and clothes?

She settled for a pair of pale pink silk pajamas, closed the suitcase, and went to her own bunk. (She was sharing with Eunice who insisted that she take the upper bunk.)

"You're just gonna leave that out here?" asked the 12-year-old incredulously, pointing at the suitcase in the middle of the room.

"It weighs a ton," she answered shrugging and hiding under the covers to change.

The older boy rolled his eyes and grabbed it, easily dragging it to the foot of the girl's bunk bed.

"Oh yeah," he said sarcastically, "Real heavy."

The girl looked down at him, her eyes wide with surprise. The younger Kevin smirked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and went to sleep on the bunk underneath the younger Ben's, not even bothering to change or see what was in his suitcase. The younger Gwen sighed. Boys. They were so disgusting.

At that moment the door opened and in walked the older Ben, Eunice, Julie, and Cooper.

"Boy, I am beat," said the older Ben, sitting down on the lower bunk of the bed he and the older Kevin would have to sleep in.

"Where's the other Gwen and Kevin?" asked the younger Ben, once again peering over the edge of his bunk at the four teens.

"Kevin's not allowed to move, and Gwen's saying goodnight," the older Ben answered, shuddering slightly at the last statement. He knew that Gwen and Kevin's version of a goodnight kiss was a little more than a peck on the cheek. Nobody noticed him shuddering, though.

"You got him pretty good," he added, smiling up at the younger version of his red haired cousin. The younger girl smirked in satisfaction at the 12-year-old, who was lying on the bunk bed across from her. He had a smug smile on his face and appeared top be asleep. No doubt he was still on the part about Gwen being the only one to tell him good night. The girl felt fury spark up in her and made a mental note to beat the boy with the baseball bat tomorrow until he was unconscious.

Then the door opened again to reveal a worried 16-year-old Gwen Tennyson.

"You okay?" asked the older Ben, as the girl moved to her bunk. She opened up her suitcase and looked through the stuff inside, sighing when she saw nothing useful.

"I'm fine," the older Gwen answered brusquely, "Eunice, do you have something normal that I can borrow?" She turned to the blonde girl, already knowing that Julie's suitcase held clothes similar to her own.

"Grandma didn't give you anything to sleep in?" asked the younger Ben incredulously.

"She did," answered the older Gwen miserably, "But it's something I would never wear in a million years."

"Really? All the clothes she gave me are great!" exclaimed the younger Gwen, looking down at the older version of herself with surprise.

The older red head sighed as she looked up at the little girl and shook her head. She turned to look back in the suitcase. Her eyes landed on a black shirt that would without a doubt be way too big for her. She smiled as she lifted it out and ran the fabric through her fingers. It was one of Kevin's shirts- the one she always slept in.

"Actually, no thanks, I already found something," she said, turning back to Eunice, who had lifted some dark blue pajamas out of her suitcase. She smiled when she saw the shirt the older Gwen was holding.

"Okay," the blonde shrugged getting ready to put the clothes back.

"Hey, can I have those?" asked Julie suddenly.

"Sure," said Eunice and handed the clothes to Julie, who sat beside her, looking through her own suitcase.

"Thanks," said the Asian-American, taking the clothes and climbing the ladder to the top bunk of her and Gwen's bed.

"Didn't Grandma give you one of my T-shirts?" asked the older Ben, a little hurt. Suddenly a laugh came from the lower bunk of the bed where the two younger boys were sleeping. Everyone turned their heads to the osmosian.

"Ha! I don't think that would've fit her as a nightgown. You two probably wear the same size," he laughed and closed his eyes again.

"So, it doesn't matter how old you are. You're gonna make my life a living hell anyway," said the older Ben, glaring at the boy.

"Yep," he stated smugly.

"Back to Ben's first question," said Cooper suddenly. He pulled his shirt over his head and turned to look at the older Gwen. The girl had crawled under her blanket and was changing into her boyfriend's T-shirt. "You're not okay."

"That's not a question, Cooper," the girl stated, succeeding in pulling on the shirt. She turned away from everyone.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at her as he buttoned up his flannel pajamas.

"Nothing," she answered coldly.

"Just leave her alone, Coop," said the older Ben, sighing, "She's exhausted. We all are. She'll be fine in the morning."

"Um, Ben?" said Julie unsurely, "It's morning now."

"Okay, she'll be fine after a good night's sleep," the boy corrected himself.

"It's not night," she said, smiling a teasing smile.

"You know what I mean!" the 16-year-old snapped.

"Great, now that that's been established," said the younger Gwen and turned over in her bunk so that she was facing the wall, "Good night!"

"Can someone get the lights?" asked Eunice as she got into bed.

"Wait!" cried the older Ben, "I haven't gotten dressed yet!"

"Well, whose problem is that?" snapped Julie. Cooper rolled his eyes and hit the light switch having already changed into his night clothes.

The older Gwen opened her eyes to complete darkness. The warmth of Kevin's T-shirt enveloped her and she wished she could stay in bed all day. Then last night's events came back to her like a slap in the face. The aliens were after her. The younger versions of her, Kevin and Ben were back from the past. Kevin was injured- Kevin! The older red head sighed. Last night she had been so mad at the rakari, and after the comment he made about the clothes Grandma Verdona had packed for her she had snapped. They needed to get a move on, and with Kevin not being able to move that was gonna be really difficult.

She sighed and got out of bed, reaching for her suitcase. Her fingers fumbled for a minute, and she decided that wearing a dress would be easiest. It was summer outside, and it was so dark that the girl doubted she could figure out how to put anything else on. Finally she found the hem of something that felt like a dress. She pulled it on and found that it was a clingy, sequined strapless number that only ran down to the middle of her thighs. The older Gwen smirked. Kevin was gonna love this.

She opened the door, walking out into the living room. There sat Kevin, staring at the TV screen at some football game. He lifted his eyes when he heard the door open and gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the game. Anyone else would've thought that he didn't notice Gwen's appearance, but she knew it was just a delayed reaction.

"Three, two, one…" she murmured to herself. Kevin's eyes promptly snapped away from the game and landed on her. His mouth opened at the sight and he had to admit- she looked totally hot. The girl smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Like what you see?" she asked, twirling. He just stared at her dumbstruck. Gwen's smirk deepened and she stepped around the coffee table, heading towards the kitchen. She snapped her fingers and light filled the room. Kevin's lust-filled eyes followed her. She reached up to one of the cabinets and took down a cereal box and two bowls.

"Want some?" she asked, shaking the box. The older teen regained his composure and turned back to the game. He knew what game she was playing, and no way in hell would he let her win.

"Sure," he answered, shrugging, "What are you doing up so early?" Kevin smirked as the girl turned around to look at him in a way that said _Ha, ha. Very funny._

"I couldn't sleep after yesterday," she answered, sighing, "And sorry about…" she studied him for a moment, trying to think of what to apologize for. The older Kevin watched her face, with great difficulty keeping his eyes from trailing down the sexy red dress, waiting for her to finish the sentence.

"…that," she finished lamely.

Kevin shrugged.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, back to her usual worried self. The boy studied her as she set down the cereal.

"Not much," he lied, (It didn't hurt at all! After all, he wasn't Ben Tennyson, the whiniest superhero on Earth.) "My head just hurts a lot. You got me pretty damn good."

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Don't worry about it, Gwen," he said, "I've had worse."

"The worst part is that I know you're not just saying that to make me feel better," she said, sighing and tuning to the fridge to get the milk.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, rolling his eyes, "You know, the others probably won't be up for a couple more hours…" his voice trailed off suggestively. The older Gwen rolled her eyes, but decided to tease him a little. She smiled and walked over to him, all thoughts of breakfast forgotten. She sat down on his lap so that she was straddling him. He smirked as his hands wrapped around her back, keeping her from escaping. Her hands ran over his chest and up to his shoulders. She rubbed them, a smirk on her beautiful face. He leaned forward, trying to capture her lips in a kiss. Her hands immediately stopped and she pulled back.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" she asked, still smiling as she looked in his obsidian eyes. A smirk immediately appeared on his face, but Gwen could see she was torturing him.

"God, you're a tease," he told her, rubbing circles into her back. The girl laughed as she sat back on his lap, her hands trailing down his arms. She gripped his large hands in her small ones and forced him to let her out of his vice-like grip. Smiling she leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"I know," she said and got off his lap, heading back to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"What are you watching, anyway?" the younger girl asked as she came to sit beside the dark teen on the couch, handing him a bowl of cereal. He took it and smiled in gratitude.

"Just a rerun of yesterday's game," he answered, shrugging.

"Didn't you already see that?" she asked as she glared at the screen. Despite the fact that she was good at all sports, she couldn't understand Kevin and Ben's obsession with them. Then again, Ben was also obsessed with Sumo Slammers and weird tasting smoothies…

"No," the older Kevin answered in response to her question, "We had to hang out with your cousin, remember?"

"Oh," said the 16-year-old girl. She was quickly becoming bored with this game. She set down the bowl of cereal and grabbed the remote, turning it to the news station.

"Hey!" Kevin exclaimed, "I was watching that!"

"Well, now we're watching something else," she stated, turning her eyes to the TV.

Kevin glared at his girlfriend and then, with surprising strength and speed, considering what he had been through a few hours ago, pinned her down on the couch.

"Kevin!" she exclaimed, as he hovered above her, his face just inches from hers.

"Give me the remote, Gwen," he said.

"No," she said firmly, and the two engaged in a staring contest, daring the other to look away. Not that either of them actually wanted to. Kevin's fury was slowly dwindling away as he stared into her perfect jade eyes. Gwen found herself memorizing each detail of his perfectly chiseled face. Subconsciously, they both leaned in for a kiss.

"Hey, guys, what's- Dude! Get off my cousin!" cried the ever-so-annoying voice of the older Ben Tennyson as he barged into the living room from the bedroom, shutting the door loudly. He was fully dressed in his usual green jacket, skinny jeans, and black T-shirt. "There are kids here!"

"Yeah," said the older Kevin as he got off his girlfriend and they both sat up, glaring at the unwelcome intruder, "And there's also a 16-year-old obnoxious super hero who's gonna get kicked out of his grandfather's RV if he can't quit annoying the hell outta everyone!"

"Kevin, calm down," said the older Gwen, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You'll wake everyone up."

"No he won't," answered the younger teen, "The walls are sound proofed." The older Gwen pursed her lips and glared at her cousin over her shoulder, the older Kevin smiled evilly, and the older Ben's eyes were wide with fear.

"Right," he said, stepping closer to the door and giving the two other teens a wide berth, "Probably shouldn't have said that." And with that he was out of the make-shift home, running to God-knows-where.

"Get back here, Tennyson!" yelled the older Kevin, getting up and then howling in pain as his ankle gave out.

"Son of a-"

"Kevin!" the older Gwen interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"What?" he snapped at her, sinking back into the comfortable couch.

The older girl sighed and went to one of the bookshelves.

"Let me see if there's something here about healing you," she said, taking down one of the books on magic.

"Great," he said, cracking his knuckles, "Then I can kick Tennyson's butt that much sooner."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," she said, flipping through the book, "I mean, remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, turning away from her and back to the TV. He knew she was right, but that didn't mean he couldn't kill Benji when this whole thing blew over.

The bedroom door opened again, and this time everyone except Cooper stepped out.

"Hey," said Julie, frowning when she saw her friend curled up in the armchair with a book in her lap, "Kevin wouldn't let you watch TV?" She joked, knowing full well that when it came to Gwen, Kevin was like putty in her hands. The three kids and Eunice then sat down at the table, while she remained standing.

Unsurprisingly, her comment was ignored.

"Benji's gonna have a heart attack when he sees you in that," said the older Kevin, smirking as he looked her up and down. Julie looked down at herself subconsciously. She was wearing a short, black leather mini skirt and a bright green top that barely covered her chest, leaving her stomach bare.

"Kevin!" snapped the older Gwen, looking up from the book in her lap to glare at him.

"Sorry, Gwen," he said, smiling an all-too-innocent smile at her, "You know you look smokin' hot, too." The girl rolled her eyes and went back to reading.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning at the older version of herself, "And why am I wearing that, anyway?" The younger red head was wearing a pale blue tunic and black leggings, and regarding the red sequin dress that the older her was wearing suspiciously.

"Because I didn't feel like waking anyone up by turning on the lights just to get dressed, and this was the first thing I found," she answered, shrugging.

"Hey, as long as you're looking for a spell to heal tuff, can you do something about my eye?" asked the younger Ben.

"I'll see if I can find anything," the older girl answered.

"Hey, Gwen?" asked Eunice suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her. This was the third time someone had interrupted the older Gwen's reading, and she was starting to get annoyed.

"What?" she snapped. Eunice looked taken aback by the girl's abrupt mood change. She was wearing dark blue denim shorts and a purple tank top, instead of her usual white shorts and sleeveless pale pink top. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail.

"I was just wondering, where's the other Ben?"

"He ran out after making Kevin mad…again," the other girl answered, shrugging and turning back to the book.

"Man, I love this future," said the younger Kevin, earning him a glare from the two younger cousins.

The older Gwen looked up and studied the two younger boys. She smiled in a motherly way and said as kindly as she could, "Get dressed, please, so we can have breakfast."

"Told you," said the younger Gwen, smirking at the two boys. The younger Kevin rolled his eyes as he and the younger Ben stalked off to the bed room.

"Man, she's even bossier in the future than she is now," said the younger Ben. The younger Gwen looked ready to shout at him, but Julie put a hand on her arm.

"Don't. You already have a plan to get back at him," she said, pointing at the older Gwen who looked deep in thought.

"Yeah, except my plans don't always go too well," admitted the younger Gwen, sighing sadly.

"They do now," said the older Gwen, smiling at her boyfriend.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, smiling back at her. Kevin knew that when Gwen got that look in her eyes that it meant trouble for Ben and entertainment for him. In fact he had no doubt that her mind was evil enough to figure out a way to get back at the teen for both of them.

"Later," she said, and went back to reading. The older Kevin smiled at her. His eyes suddenly landed on her uneaten cereal.

"You gonna finish that?" he asked.

The older girl looked up and answered, "Help yourself."

He did.

At that moment, the door opened again, and in walked the older Ben.

"Heh, forgot you couldn't walk," he said to the older Kevin, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"And how far exactly did you get before you realized that?" asked Julie, frowning as she walked forward and embraced him.

"Just a few miles. By the way, if we're leaving, we should do it fast. I saw another tank a few miles back. It looked abandoned, but, you know, just in case."

"Ben, are you sure that wasn't the same tank that attacked us yesterday?" asked Julie like she was talking to a three-year-old, holding him at arm's length.

"Maybe," the teen admitted begrudgingly, shrugging.

Suddenly, Will Harangue's voice came from the TV.

"And now as for what has been happening recently with the so-called teenage hero Ben Tennyson. Ben Tennyson was last sighted with his cousin Gwen Tennyson and friend Kevin Levin apparently stopping a fight between a 12-year-old, and two other kids, who threatened to destroy Main Street." A picture was shown where Gwen put a shield between the younger Gwen and Ben and Kevin. "But rather than return these kids to their parents, he had his cousin kidnap them and take them to who knows where. Since then, the trio has disappeared. Further more, aliens have been sighted all over town, destroying the homes of innocent people." A picture of a rakarus with a blaster gun in his hands standing on the charred remains of a house in front of a cowering family. "There is no doubt in anyone's mind that these things are after Ben Tennyson. The question remains- will he be heroic enough to give himself up for the sake of his hometown, or will he continue to remain hidden, and let these creatures destroy everything he supposedly lives to protect?" The older Kevin shut off the TV.

"What was that about?" asked the younger Ben, frowning at the screen. He and the younger Kevin had entered at the "rather than return these kids to their parents" part. The younger Ben was wearing a dark green T-shirt with a black 10 stitched over his heart, and skinny jeans. The younger Kevin was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt.

"Will Harangue," answered the older Ben as he sat down on the arm of the couch, "He's this reporter who hates me."

"Why?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning at him.

"Who knows?" said the older Ben, "The only real reason he's got is that I trashed his car when he sent a killer robot to destroy me. And he started hating me long before that."

"He's right, though," said the older Gwen suddenly. Everyone turned to stare at her in amazement.

"Right about me giving myself up?" asked the younger Ben, "They're not even after me!"

"No, they're after her," said the older Kevin, "And she doesn't care what happens to her as long as the people she loves aren't hurt. Gwen, I know what you're thinking. No."

"You know what I'm thinking?" she asked, turning to look at him, "Then tell me Kevin, what am I thinking?"

"You want to give yourself up," he answered, his dark eyes set on hers.

"Yes, I do. I don't think you understand what's at stake here. They're ruthless. They're gonna kill everyone to get to me. My parents, my brother, Ben…you. They won't care. As long as they get what they want," she said, cradling her head in her hands.

After a long silence, the older Ben walked over to his cousin and crouched down in front of her. He knew the person who ought to be convincing her to stay was Kevin, but since he was pretty much out of commission, that was gonna be impossible to do without the kids starting to suspect something.

"Gwen, do you remember when Rojo attacked us, when we were kids?" he said, "I thought that if I left you guys to go defeat her by myself, then you'd be safe."

"What does that have to do with this?" she asked, looking up and frowning at him.

"Isn't that what you're trying to do?" he asked, "Leave so that everyone else can be safe?"

"There's a difference, Ben," she said, sighing.

Ben frowned, seeing that this approach wasn't gonna work. Gwen, no matter how old, was just too stubborn!

"You know he won't let you leave," he tried, lowering his voice so that none of the others would hear him. He didn't have to say it out loud. His cousin knew he was talking about Kevin.

A small smile played across the annodyte's mouth.

"If he has to, he'll keep you tied up in here, and you know it," He was teasing her now. Only, he was right. If that was what it took to keep the girl safe, Kevin would do it.

"He can't move," the older Gwen answered in a whisper.

"I think I could do that for a few more hours," said the older Ben, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Looks like I'm staying," she said, louder, getting up and going over to the couch. If it meant keeping Kevin, the one person she cared most about, out of danger and with her, she could put the consequences out of her mind. At least until they found some way to defeat the rakari.

Without warning she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. He hesitated before hugging her back.

"What was that for?" he asked when she let go. She smiled at him.

"I don't know," That was code for _Later. I can't tell you now because the younger us are here and this will likely end up with us making out._

Then the door opened for the fourth time that day.

"Ugh," said Cooper groggily, "Morning. What did I miss?" He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, too. His eyes ran over the older Gwen's body the way the older Kevin's had and he blushed. Had _everyone _gotten normal clothes except for her and Julie?

_What am I thinking?_ Gwen thought, _Of course they did._

"Nothing much," said Julie, smiling brightly.

"So," said Eunice, suddenly, "Who wants breakfast?"

"No thanks," said the older Kevin, "I already ate."

"I could use a sandwich or something," said the older Gwen as she sat down beside the older Kevin, "You know, since Kevin ate my breakfast."

"Hey, you said I could have it," he snapped at her, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Well, what else was I gonna say?" she snapped back, "'Paws off'? You probably would've eaten it just to spite me."

"Maybe," he said, shrugging, "But probably not. You're so hot in that dress, it's impossible to argue."

"Ugh. Those 'compliments' are gonna be really hard to get used to," said the younger Gwen, shuddering slightly.

"Right," said Eunice, making her way to the kitchen. Everyone else who wasn't already there sat around the table. Except for the older Gwen and Kevin, who were sitting on the couch comfortably.

"Anyone else want something?" she asked, looking through the cupboards. Somehow, she had assumed the role of the cook, and Cooper had taken the role of the doctor. It was a strange arrangement, but neither one complained.

"Cereal for the rest of us," said the older Ben, "By the way, Julie, what the heck are you and Gwen wearing?"

The two girls exchanged a look.

"Grandma Verdona," they said in unison.

"Oh," the 16-year-old chuckled, "So that's how come you chased me out of the room with a tennis racquet!"

"Hang on a sec," said the older Gwen, sitting up and looking over the 17-year-old, "Ben didn't even see inside the suitcase?"

"No," laughed Julie, "He's not Kevin."

The red head rolled her eyes.

"Thank God."

At this everyone except the younger Ben laughed.

"Hey!" he cried, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, give it a rest, dweeb!" snapped his cousin, rolling her eyes at him, "Do you _want _to be a juvenile, obnoxious delinquent with no morals what-so-ever?" Everyone looked at her amused. She then turned to the older Kevin and added, "No offense."

He shrugged.

"None taken."

"Maybe not from him," said the younger Kevin, "but didn't I just save your life yesterday?"

"Do you really want to continue that argument?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. He glared at her and then turned away. She smiled smugly.

The older Gwen laughed. "De ja vous," she said.

"She said pretty much the same thing to me yesterday in the woods," the older Kevin chuckled when everyone stared at them in confusion.

"What were you guys fighting about?" asked the older Ben, looking at the two with mild interest.

"I'll give you a hint," said the older Gwen, her amused expression turning to one of disgust and hatred, "She's a bitch with a blonde head that I want to rip off more than anything. Oh, not you Eunice!" she added when the girl walked over with Gwen's sandwich on a plate in her hand. Her eyes had widened considerably at Gwen's description of the girl.

"The girl who hit on me at Julie's tennis match?" the older Ben suggested.

"Okay, that's two girls whose heads I want to rip off," said the red head, and then looked at her Asian-American friend, to see her shaking her head at her boyfriend's stupidity.

"The girl Kevin made out with at the party he threw before we met Paradox?"

"What?" the girl exclaimed, turning to look at her boyfriend with astonishment clear on her face.

"Thanks, dude," said the older Kevin, glaring at his completely oblivious friend.

"What girl, Kevin?" snapped the older Gwen, glaring at him.

"I have got to dye my hair," Eunice muttered, pouring everyone else cereal.

"No one, Gwen," he answered, shifting away from her. Her slim, quick fingers wrapped around his arm, keeping him in place.

"Kevin Ethan Levin!" she snapped, her grip tightening on his arm to almost painful.

"Does anyone else suddenly feel like eating breakfast outside?" asked Cooper.

"Oh, yeah!"

"It's such a nice day out!"

"Let's go!"

All the other teens were quick to agree. The kids? Not so much.

"No way!" snapped the younger Kevin.

"Come on! The fight's just getting good!" said the younger Ben. His cousin glared at both of them.

"Come on, you soap opera addicts," she snapped. She was right, too. Kevin and Gwen's relationship really was like something from a soap opera. A soap opera about aliens, but whatever.

"You ain't the boss of me!" snapped the older boy, glaring at her.

She stood up with the other teens and put her hands on her hips.

"You want me to crash your car in the future?" she asked.

"You wouldn't," he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Not a bad idea," said the older Gwen, "You did give me the keys…"

"Gwen, don't," said the older Kevin.

The girl glared at him.

"So, you coming?" asked the younger Gwen.

"Yeah, yeah," said the older boy rolling his eyes, taking his cereal bowl in one hand and grabbing the younger Ben's collar in his other hand.

"Hey!" snapped the younger boy, struggling to break free and keep the cereal from spilling on the floor, "Was that really necessary?" He asked when they were outside.

"Yeah," answered the older boy, smirking, "It was."

"What was she so mad about, anyway?" asked the younger Ben.

"What was she mad about?" exclaimed Julie, "Ben, even you can't be that stupid!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the younger Ben again.

"I mean, come on!" the older one snapped back. They were now making a small circle in front of the Rustbucket.

"It's Kevin! He's probably made out with every girl in Bellwood who's above 15 and below 20!"

"That's not the point, Ben. She was mad about Jennifer Nocturne. You remember. The one who made out with you at the movie premier?"

"Oh, right," said the older Ben, his face taking on a dreamy look, "But why does Gwen hate her?"

Julie sighed in exasperation. She turned to Eunice and said, "You have no idea how lucky you are." She cradled her face in her hands and Eunice quickly started patting her back.

"Does anyone want to explain to us what's going on?" asked the younger Ben.

"It doesn't matter," answered the younger Gwen, shrugging, "They're not gonna tell us anyway."

"Yeah," agreed the younger Kevin, "What's the point in being in the future if you can't find anything out?"

"Would you rather be in the Null Void?" asked the older Ben.

"Touché," the boy answered, narrowing his eyes.

"So, now what?" asked Julie.

At that moment something that sounded like a flowerpot breaking came from the RV.

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Eunice unsurely. She had grown to like the osmosian over the short time they had spent together.

"It's Kevin," answered Ben, shrugging and wrapping a protective arm around Julie, like he was afraid his cousin was gonna bust down the door and come charging at them, "And besides, Gwen would never do anything to hurt Kevin intentionally."

Another flowerpot or whatever broke.

"Of course not," said Cooper sarcastically.

"So, seriously, now what?" asked Julie again.

"Now, we eat our breakfast in the middle of the woods and then go to see if Gwen hasn't killed Kevin yet," the older Ben answered.

"Still like this future?" asked the younger Gwen to the younger Kevin as they walked a few yards away from the RV.

"Sure," he answered, shrugging, "You get jealous when I have parties, don't invite you, and make out with other girls." He smirked at her. She glared at him, her temper flaring.

"I was not jealous," she hissed.

"Of course not," he answered, "You _will _be jealous."

"Ugh! You are so infuriating!" she exclaimed.

By now they had reached a small meadow.

"Seems like the perfect place for a picnic," said Julie, smiling.

"Yeah," agreed the older Ben, "Looks like someplace that Kevin would take Gwen to." His eyes rested on a fallen tree. "See, he probably chopped down that tree just so she wouldn't get her skirt dirty!"

Julie rolled her eyes and took her boyfriend's free hand in her own.

"Come on," she laughed, pulling him over to the tree.

Cooper sat down on the ground and ate his cereal in silence, a smug smile on his face. Meanwhile, some small animals came out of the woods, sensing Eunice. The younger Gwen went over to them and ate as she and Eunice talked about something while Eunice fed some of her cereal to the animals.

The two boys sat on the ground a few feet away from everyone else.

"What did you say to her?" the younger Ben suddenly asked.

"Your cousin? Nothing much," the older boy answered, shrugging nonchalantly, "Besides, since when do you care?"

"She's my cousin," answered the 11-year-old, shrugging as he looked down at the ground, "I kinda have to."

"Uh huh," said the younger Kevin, stuffing his mouth with cereal.

"So, what happened with you?" asked the younger Ben, looking awkwardly at the ground, "I mean, after you got locked in the Null Void. How did you get back to normal?"

"That's something that you'll never find out," he answered curtly.

"What did you do?" asked the younger Ben, his eyes glowing, "Beat up some bad guy and forced him to turn you back? Find some crystal or something that changes aliens to humans? No, wait! You stole some sort of device that takes you back in time, but doesn't actually take_ you_ back in time!"

The older Kevin stared at the boy like he was crazy.

"Hey, Gwen!" he called over to the young red head. Everyone looked over at him. "I think your cousin might've caught something that destroys your brain and replaces it with sci-fi comics!"

The younger Gwen studied him for a few moments and realized he was giving her an excellent opportunity to humiliate her cousin. And if there was one thing the two kids had in common, it was that they both loved humiliating Ben.

"Yeah, he caught that disease the second he was born," the girl answered, deciding to forget about him calling her jealous, she got up and walked over to the two boys, "It's called BTD." She looked sympathetically at her cousin.

"BTD? That sounds serious," said the younger Kevin, turning to look at her with concern in his eyes.

"Oh, it is," she answered, her face and tone matching his.

"Well, what is it?" asked the younger Ben, looking as if though he believed his cousin.

_So gullible,_ thought his cousin, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"It's Ben Tennyson Disease. The most terminal of all diseases," she answered sadly. It took a moment for this to sink in. Then suddenly the younger Gwen and Kevin burst out laughing. Julie, Cooper, and Eunice looked like they were struggling not to laugh as well. The older Ben was shaking his head at his own stupidity.

"Not funny, you guys," snapped the younger Ben, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Yeah…right!" exclaimed the younger Kevin, "You should've seen your face, Tennyson! You just make it too easy."

"Hey, my last name's Tennyson, too," the younger Gwen reminded him, hands on her hips as she glared at the older boy.

"When you start getting as annoying and easy to trick as your cousin, I'll start calling you by your last name," he promised her.

"So, I'm not annoying anymore," she said, a smug smile on her face.

"Make fun of Benji more and you're not," he stated, smiling at her just as smugly. She rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed.

"Aw. Who would've thought humiliating you would bring them closer?" Julie teased her boyfriend.

"Yeah, yeah," the older Ben answered, waving away the torments like the diva he was, "I think Gwen should be done with Kevin's torture by now. We ought to get back."

"Yeah, let's go," Cooper agreed. They all got up and went the short way back to the RV. Only, when they got there-

"Hey, where's my car?" asked the younger Kevin, looking around. The car was nowhere in sight.

"Oh no," breathed the older Ben and ran inside the RV. The others followed him, ready for another attack by the rakari. The older Gwen and Kevin were nowhere to be seen!

"Maybe we should check the bedroom…" Cooper trailed off.

The older Ben glared at his friend, but concern for his friend and cousin won out over whatever disgust he might feel at the thought of them being together. He opened the door and-

"AHHH!" he screamed like a fan girl.

"Ben, what happened?" exclaimed Julie, running over to the 16-year-old. There, dangling from the doorframe on a silver chain was a white piece of paper.

"Ben, it's just a note," said Julie, removing the piece of paper from the delicate hook, "Although why he had to use Gwen's necklace and dangle it from the door frame is incomprehensible," she added.

"What does it say?" asked the younger Ben, as the others crowded around the older version of him.

"Ben-

Went to town with Gwen. Hidden tracking device in car, press blue button. When you get there don't bring the kids.

Kevin

P.S. I knew you'd check in the bedroom! Did you really think she'd-

P.P.S. Ben, I know you are reading this aloud, and that you have no problem guessing what Kevin was about to write. Now stop reading the letter and do what he says!" read the older Ben.

"Okay, that was weird," said Cooper.

"Well, you heard 'em. Let's get to town," said the older Ben, crumpling the note and wondering how his friend had escaped the torture that Gwen had planned for him. Maybe there was some potential in that whole 'apologize-and-take-her-out-to-dinner' thing after all.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I've written another story about time travel now, too, so check it out!

Unlike the other chapters, this one doesn't pick up where the last one left off. It starts when Gwen found out about that other blonde girl. Has anybody else noticed that whenever they need a girl for Gwen or Julie to hate or get jealous of, she's always blonde?

Now, onto the story!

_Previously:_

"What girl, Kevin?" snapped the older Gwen, glaring at him.

"No one, Gwen," " he answered, shifting away from her. Her slim, quick fingers wrapped around his arm, keeping him in place.

"Kevin Ethan Levin!" she snapped, her grip tightening on his arm to almost painful.

"Does anyone else suddenly feel like eating breakfast outside?" asked Cooper.

The others agreed and left the RV.

"What girl?" Gwen repeated.

"Well, I was having this party, and one of the girls a friend of mine invited walked up to me and started hitting on me," Kevin answered.

"And you flirted back, and then you two started making out," Gwen guessed, letting go of him and crossing her arms on her chest in a huff. She turned to glare at the TV like it was to blame for the fact that her boyfriend was, in her opinion, a man-whore.

"Well, yeah," he admitted, "But, I don't know, I just couldn't stop thinking about you. So I stopped the kiss, and I guess Benji saw what happened before that and didn't stick around to find out the details." He glared at the door. "I'm gonna kill him."

The red head's face softened and she smiled. She turned back to the 17-year-old and placed her hand back on his arm, lightly this time. He turned to look at her in surprise. She gently leaned forward and kissed him lightly.

"Of course you are," she said, pulling back and rolling her eyes. She got up off the couch and went back to the arm chair, picked up the book and started looking through it again.

"So, you're not mad anymore?" asked Kevin, smiling at her hopefully.

"No, of course not," she answered, a small smile on her lips.

Kevin smirked and relaxed back against the couch. Girls. Go figure.

"I think I found something," said Gwen after a few seconds of silence, lifting up her eyes. She focused on Kevin's sprained ankle and muttered a spell. They heard a crash from the kitchen.

"Sorry," she said, "Wrong spell."

Kevin rolled his eyes, grateful that it hadn't been his ankle. Gwen muttered the spell again. Another crash.

"Gwen!" he exclaimed, "Maybe try a different spell?"

"You try reading this," she snapped at him, shaking the book. Kevin glared at her. She turned back to the book and read the spell below the one that broke things. There was a quiet crack, and nothing more.

"Did it work?" asked Kevin.

"I don't know," she answered, getting up, "Can you stand?"

Kevin slowly got up, and found that his ankle didn't hurt anymore.

"Thanks," he said, flashing his girlfriend a smile which she returned.

"Good. Now we should go find Ben and the others and let them know you're still alive," she said, getting up and rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Kevin agreed, "And let Cooper know he still doesn't have a shot."

Gwen froze three steps away from the door.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning back to him. He got up off the couch.

"Come on, everyone knows he's got a crush on you, and is probably hoping you do actually kill me so he can start planning some way to woo you," Kevin answered with a shrug.

Gwen's expression turned mocking.

"'Woo' me?"

"You know what I mean," he said, rolling his eyes.

Gwen sighed. "Cooper knows I care about you, and it wouldn't matter if we were together or not. He still wouldn't have a chance."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," he said, rolling his eyes.

Gwen smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back.

"There's no one else. You know that," she promised into his chest. He smiled. So many things had gone wrong in his life, it was hard to believe this perfect girl was his, and he loved it when she reminded him. It made him feel like he had at least some power over her. It was a nice change from her always telling him what to do. Not that he minded. He'd do anything for her.

"Yeah, I know," he told her, burying his face in her flame red hair. All too soon the hug ended and she stepped back, an incredulous and slightly mocking look on her face.

"What?" he asked, frowning at her.

"It's just that when we first met Cooper again, you treated his crush like it was no big deal," she said smiling a teasing smile, "You teased us both about it. Now, you're jealous of him."

"You know, you're much hotter when you don't talk," he said, rolling his eyes and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss, this one longer than the last. She pulled away and stepped back.

"Let's go," she said, extending her hand to him. He took it, but rather than let her lead him out the door, he pulled her back against his chest again.

"Here's a thought," he almost purred, "Why don't we head to town…alone."

"And what?" she asked, stepping back, "Leave your car and everyone's suitcases here?"

Kevin snorted. "Of course not. I'll go get the suitcases, you go wait in the car," he told her, and turned around to go to the bedroom.

"Don't you think the others will be worried?" asked Gwen, sitting on the arm of the couch and crossing her arms, giving no indication that she was about to follow his directions, "I mean, they'll probably think we got captured by rakari or something."

Kevin froze on his way to the bedroom.

"Good point," he stated, turning around, "You got anything to write on?"

Gwen shrugged, got up, and went to look in one of the kitchen drawers. After a few seconds she pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Great," said Kevin, taking the notepad and pen from her. He sat back down on the couch and started writing in his large, untidy handwriting. Having graduated only the fourth grade, it was a miracle he wasn't writing in block letters. "Now, can you bring me one of your necklaces?"

"Okay," she answered and left to go to the bedroom, "But why do you need my necklace?" she asked, coming back and handing him a thin, delicate silver one etched with real diamonds. Kevin watched the necklace as it fell into his palm. A wry smile spread across his face.

"What?" she asked.

"I gave you this," he said, smiling up at her, "For your sixteenth birthday, remember?"

"Oh, really?" said Gwen, looking confused as she sat down beside him. That necklace had been almost as important to her as the locket he had once given her. How could she forget what it looked like? A small smile passed her face as she remembered why.

"That was when you took me and Ben to Las Vegas." There was an accusing note to her voice, "and got us both drunk."

"Hey, you can't tell me you weren't pleasantly surprised," he smirked.

"Kevin!" she exclaimed, "You got me and my cousin drunk! That was probably the most humiliating day of my life! Not to mention the headache I got in the morning."

Kevin chuckled.

"Yeah, you're not good with alcohol."

Gwen rolled her eyes and turned her gaze down to the note. She suddenly took the pen from Kevin's hand and turned to write down something else. Once she was done, she turned her head back up to glare at him.

"What!" he exclaimed.

"You realize that he's gonna be reading this aloud, right?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, there are three kids here who don't want or need to know what's going on in your perverse mind," she stated, "Now, remind me- why do you need my necklace?"

"Because we're gonna hang this note on the bedroom doorframe," Kevin explained, attaching the note to the necklace.

"Why the bedroom and why my necklace?" Gwen repeated.

"The bedroom because where else do you think your cousin is gonna check after he sees we're gone? And the necklace because, well, do you see any string?" he said, sighing in exasperation.

Gwen pondered this for a moment.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to leave the note on the coffee table?" she finally asked.

Kevin sighed and looked up to smile at her.

"Sure, but where's the fun in that?" he asked back. Gwen sighed and shook her head as Kevin went to the bedroom to attach the note to the bedroom doorframe. He came back with four of the nine suitcases in his hands. Wow, that guy was _really_ strong.

"Let's go," he said. Gwen stood up and opened the door for him, staring at the seemingly effortless way he carried the suitcases.

"Mind popping the trunk?" he asked, jerking at his car with his head.

"What?" she asked, shaking her head and coming out of her reverie.

"You've still got the car keys," he told her, reminding her of this morning.

"Right, I think I left them on the nightstand," she said, heading back to the RV, "Be right back."

She came back moments later, the keys dangling from her fingertips. She pressed the button to open the trunk and Kevin put the suitcases in while she went to sit in the front seat. After a few seconds he joined her.

"I left Julie and Benji's suitcases there," he told her, starting the engine.

"Why?" she asked, looking at him momentarily puzzled.

He smirked.

"You'll see," he told her.

The two drove in silence for a while.

"So, where are we going?" she suddenly asked, tapping her fingers against the window as they drove through the forest.

"That town I was gonna take you guys to before the rakari attacked," he told her, keeping his eyes on the road. There was only the slightest tightening in them when he mentioned the ruthless creatures that were trying to kill Gwen. _His_ Gwen. His hands tightened on the wheel as he remembered the cowering family and how one of the aliens had tried to break into his car. If those things did anything to her, he was gonna-

"Kevin?" her troubled voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Kevin snapped, his voice harder than he had intended. She lifted her green eyes to look at him with concern.

"Kevin," she repeated, putting her hand on his arm comfortingly, "What's wrong?"

He sighed. It was taking all of his self-control not to burst out in anger and tell her everything he wanted to do to the monsters that wanted to kill her. Somehow, he managed a small smile and turned to look at her briefly.

"It's nothing, Gwen, really," he lied. She smiled back.

"Okay."

It was getting dark outside when they reached the outskirts of the town. It was extremely small, with only one high school, a middle school, a kindergarten, a hospital, hotel, a restaurant, McDonald's, and several houses scattered on the sides of the road. There was a large banner on top of the high school's door that read 'DANCE', and there were several cars in the parking lot. Kevin pressed a button on the car, and it became invisible. He parked in the parking lot. Gwen looked at him questioningly.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, looking out the window at the other people and cars.

"Want to go to prom?" he asked her, a slight smirk on his face. She looked taken aback. Kevin was just full of surprises.

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking at him incredulously, "I figured after my last high school dance, you wouldn't want to go anywhere near anything that had to do with dancing."

"Just say yes before I change my mind," he told her, smirking. She rolled her eyes.

"I'd love to," she finally said, smiling at him.

"Great," he said, and looked out past her at the other students.

"Hang on," she said, tearing her eyes away from the window to stare straight ahead as a thought suddenly occurred to her, "You knew about this, didn't you?" She remembered how he had left Julie and Ben's suitcases in the RV and mentally hit herself on the forehead. _Of course_ he knew. He knew everything.

"Knew about what?"

"The dance. That's why you wanted to go to town now," she turned to smile at him, "To surprise me."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"That was really sweet," she said, still smiling.

Kevin smiled back at her.

"Even I have my moments," he said. There was a moment of silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Well, how are we gonna get in there?" she asked, frowning at him.

Kevin looked at her incredulously.

"Gwen, does it look like anyone's paying attention to who's going in?"

Gwen looked out the window. Kevin was right. It didn't seem like anyone would think they were out of place.

"I guess you're right," she said, relaxing back against the chair, "But wait!"

"What is it now?" Kevin snapped, growing impatient.

"What do we do with the rest of the stuff?" she asked, mildly annoyed.

"Leave it at the hotel," Kevin answered, "Duh."

Gwen pursed her lips as she waited for him to realize what the flaw in that plan was. A full three seconds had passed when he finally said, "Oh, right," and pulled out of the parking lot.

Gwen rolled her eyes as he turned the engine back on and drove the few yards to the hotel.

"But why?" back in the RV, the younger Ben whined for the hundredth time.

The others were driving to town, following the older Kevin's instructions. The kids weren't too thrilled about not being able to go with the other teens to find out where the older Kevin and Gwen were, and while the younger Gwen and Kevin sucked it up and sat in the living room reading (Gwen), watching TV (Kevin), and occasionally fighting about something (both), the younger Ben thought the teens were being unreasonable. He continued to complain throughout the entire ride, and they were more than half the way there! It was already dark again, for crying out loud!

"Because, Kevin and Gwen said so," answered the older Ben. He was sitting at the dinner table along with Eunice and Julie. Julie was examining the fragile necklace that Gwen and Kevin had used to hold the note to the doorframe, trying to ignore the younger version of her boyfriend, and Eunice looked like she was asleep.

"Since when do I do what they tell me?" the younger Ben snapped. Despite the bumpy trail the RV was driving down, the boy had no problem pacing the length of the RV.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say, since I learned how to pin you to trees," the younger Gwen answered, looking up from her book. She was sitting in the arm chair cross legged, reading about magic.

"And since she started backing me up," added the younger Kevin, smirking at the younger girl.

"Would you shut up?" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Seriously, dude. Pissing her off? Bad idea," said the older Ben, "Magic isn't her only defense."

The younger Gwen smiled at him smugly. He shrugged.

"And she uses those other defenses on me…how often?" he shot back, smirking at her.

"You've got a point," Julie admitted, "Usually she just has to give you 'that look' and you do whatever she says."

The two cousins froze and exchanged looks of shock, before bursting out laughing. Kevin glared at them.

"What…look?" the younger Ben managed to get out.

"You'll find out…soon enough, probably," answered Julie, smiling, grateful that the younger Ben had stopped whining.

"Definitely," the older Ben corrected his girlfriend with a smile, "I don't get how he won that fight in the woods. If she wants something from him, he's like putty in her hands."

"I don't get it either," said Julie, shaking her head at the mystery.

"She didn't tell you?" asked Eunice, lifting her head to look at Julie in surprise.

"No," Julie said, shaking her head again, "She only talks about Kevin if he annoys her. Mainly we talk about Ben."

"He doesn't annoy me in the future?" asked the younger Gwen, pointing at the 12-year-old, a mixture of shock and disbelief on her face. The boy rolled his eyes. This whole thing about her hating him was becoming real old real fast.

"Not as much," Julie answered the younger version of her friend.

"More importantly," said the younger Ben, ignoring his cousin, "What do you say about me?"

"Do you really think she's gonna tell you?" asked the older Ben, pointing at his girlfriend.

"Seriously, freakazoid," said the younger Gwen, shaking her head in exasperation and turning back to her book. The younger Kevin sighed, looking at the younger boy in fake pity.

"So clueless," he said, and turned back to the TV.

The 11-year-old glared at both of them.

The three teens laughed. Suddenly, Eunice noticed Cooper, who had been incredibly quiet during the ride.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at him in concern, "You seem kinda quiet." Everyone turned to look at Cooper. He glared at them in the rearview mirror.

"I'm fine," he snapped, hands tightening around the steering wheel.

"Let me guess," said the older Ben, sighing, "Gwen."

"Drop it, Ben," Julie said quietly. Her boyfriend either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her.

"Seriously, dude, your crush is becoming an unhealthy obsession," he stated jokingly. Cooper pursed his lips. "I mean, get over her already. She doesn't like you like that."

"Ben," Julie tried again.

Cooper took a deep breath before answering. He quickly looked over the other teens' heads to see that the kids weren't listening. He knew there was the strong possibility that Kevin was only pretending to be absorbed in the show, but decided to risk it.

"Imagine if it was Julie, not Gwen. What would you say then, Ben?" he asked, glaring at him. The 16-year-old looked taken aback for a moment. "Plus he tried to kill her. Twice, apparently. Do you really think it's as easy as just getting over her?"

Julie pursed her lips, holing back an 'I told you so'. Eunice looked extremely uncomfortable, and more than a little confused. Ben didn't know what to say. Cooper nodded, thinking he had the teenage superhero cornered. He looked back at the road, and saw they were entering the town. The kids looked up and ran to the window. Kevin hadn't seen a town in who-knows-how-long, and the other two were curious, wondering if it was one of the places Grandpa Max had taken them to last summer. It wasn't.

They turned a few corners until they reached a high school parking lot. The other three joined the kids at the window. Music could be heard coming from the gym, and, more importantly, Kevin's car was parked a few spaces away. There was a huge banner that read 'school dance' on top of the gym door.

The older Ben laughed.

"I think I know how Kevin made it up to Gwen," he smirked.

"How?" asked Eunice.

"They never did make it to Gwen's school dance," he answered suggestively, still smirking.

"_He _took me to the school dance?" exclaimed the younger Gwen, "Does he even know how to dance?"

"Would you quit talking about me like I'm not here?" he snapped at her, "And why the hell am I taking her to prom?"

"Because she tricked you into asking her," Julie answered, smiling, "And, technically, you guys never even got there."

"How do you trick someone into asking you to the dance?" asked the younger Gwen incredulously.

"Gwen will tell you once this dance is over," said the older Ben, "And if I know Kevin, those two are at the party. That explains why you three can't come," He shook his head at the thought of his friend. He really was putty in his cousin's capable hands.

"So, we're going to crash a party?" asked Eunice.

"Yeah, only what are we gonna do with them?" said the older Ben, pointing at the three kids.

"You three go ahead," said Cooper, "I'll drive them to the hotel. I'm pretty sure Gwen got room reservations."

"I'll go with you," Eunice offered.

"Why?" asked Cooper, frowning at her.

"Because I'm pretty sure you just want to go so you can keep an eye on Kevin, and that's completely unnecessary," she answered, smiling patiently as she sat back down at the table.

"She's got a point, Coop," said the older Ben. Cooper smirked.

"Well, if you two are gonna crash the prom, you might as well dress for the occasion," smirked Cooper.

"Wait, we're gonna have to dance?" exclaimed the older Ben, panic clear in his eyes.

Julie rolled her eyes, hands on hips.

"Come on, scaredy cat," she laughed and pulled him to the bedroom, muttering under her breath, "An alien invasion, an insane osmosian, a killer robot? Sure, no problem. But a dance…"

"Poor Ben," said the younger Gwen, shaking her head.

"But, hang on a sec. Doesn't he have to dance, too?" the younger Ben asked Cooper, pointing at the younger Kevin. The 12-year-old crossed his arms and glared at the boy. He was ignored.

"Of course," answered Eunice, confusion on her beautiful face.

Cooper let out a harsh laugh. "He learned when he had to take her to the dance the first time," he explained. At that moment the bedroom door opened and out stepped Ben. He was dressed in a tux. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he struggled with his tie. Feeling their eyes on him, he looked up.

"Julie wanted some privacy," he explained, and turned back to his tie. Eunice smiled and walked over to him.

"Here," she said, taking the older boy's hands away from the tie and replacing them with her own, "Let me." She tied the tie expertly in a matter of seconds.

"Thanks," said the older Ben, "Did Azmuth teach you how to tie ties?" he smirked. Eunice rolled her eyes.

"No, it was already programmed in the DNA," she answered.

"Huh?" said the younger Ben, staring at her, confused.

"I'm not human," Eunice explained.

"Yeah, we sorta got that when you absorbed that bear," said the younger Kevin, frowning at her.

"We just assumed you were…what was that alien, again?" asked the younger Gwen, looking at the older boy for an answer.

"Osmosian?" he guessed.

"Yeah, that," she said, nodding.

"No," said Eunice with a smile, "I'm a Unitrix. A prototype for the Omnitrix," she explained.

"Okay," said the younger Gwen hesitantly, "I'm just gonna pretend that's normal."

"For us it is normal," said the older Ben, smirking, "Our grandma's an energy being, my best friend is a guy who tried to kill me, and a whole planet of aliens is trying to kill you," he pointed out.

"I've got a point," said the younger Ben.

The bedroom door opened again, and this time, there stood Julie. She was dressed in a deep pink dress that reached down to the floor. It was strapless, with small sparkles on the torso. The skirt was so big that it was a wonder she even fit through the door. She looked beautiful.

"Julie," said the older Ben, "You look beautiful."

Julie blushed.

"Thanks," she said. She walked back to the table and picked up Gwen's necklace.

"She's probably gonna want this back," she said.

"Yeah," said the older Ben, keeping his eyes on the necklace as he walked over to her, "Hey, can I see that for a second?"

Julie handed him the necklace. Ben looked it over and then laughed.

"I can't believe they used this one," he said, smirking.

"Why?" asked Eunice, frowning at his back.

"Do you remember this?" he asked, turning to Julie. She frowned and shook her head. "I'll give you a clue- mine and Gwen's 16th birthday, Kevin took us to Vegas."

"This is the necklace?" Julie exclaimed, taking it from Ben carefully, "I figured she would've kept it locked up in a vault somewhere."

"Gwen probably did," Ben laughed, "but Grandma Verdona got it out."

"What's so special about that necklace?" asked the younger Gwen at the same time that her cousin asked, "He took us to Vegas?"

"Yeah," said the older Ben, answering his younger self, "And he also gave me a car."

"Sweet!" cried the younger Ben, "Can't we free him from the Null Void now?"

The older Ben and Julie rolled their eyes at each other and exchanged a look while the younger Kevin smirked and the younger Gwen pursed her lips.

"Kevin might be a jerk with a criminal mind-"

"Hey!"

"-but he does give great presents," said the older Ben.

"I'm a jerk?" snapped the younger Kevin, shooting up from the couch.

"Technically you're the self-proclaimed expert on jerks," the older Ben answered, still laughing.

"Self-proclaimed?" he repeated, seething with anger.

"It means you said it yourself," Gwen explained, clearly enjoying the older boy's discomfort.

"I know what it means!" he snapped, glaring at her. She just smiled and shrugged.

"Anyway, Gwen," said Julie, very uncomfortable with the exchange. She knew Gwen would be used to it by now, but she wasn't. "the necklace is made of real silver and diamonds."

"Seriously?" exclaimed the younger Kevin, all of his anger melting away, and giving way to surprise, "Who gave her that?"

"You did," said the older Ben, laughing at his friend. Kevin's shocked expression turned to anger again.

"Okay, we're gonna go inside now," said Julie, grabbing her boyfriend's arm and pulling him out the front door before he could irritate Kevin anymore.

"So, now we go to the hotel?" asked Cooper, as Eunice grabbed the younger Kevin's wrist and forced him to sit back down.

"Yep," she answered, sitting down beside him.

"Great!" exclaimed the younger Ben sarcastically, "Now we get to sit in a hotel room with nothing to do for what? Three hours?"

"Knowing Kevin?" said Cooper, pulling out of the parking lot, "Probably five max."

"Unless Gwen wants to go home," Eunice smirked.

"Yeah," Cooper agreed bitterly.

It didn't take long to get to the hotel. Soon they were standing in the lobby and talking to an excited desk manager. Gwen had apparently rented out nine rooms, one of them a suite.

"Where the hell did you get so much money?" the younger Kevin whispered to her once they were in the elevator.

"Her parents are rich," the younger Ben explained, shrugging.

Kevin didn't seem surprised.

"Figures," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Gwen heard him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Well, for starters you're an uptight goody-goody. You don't get to be that way unless you've got cash," he explained, shrugging.

"So, in your opinion, all people who are rich are uptight," she stated, glaring daggers at him. The expression 'if looks could kill' seemed appropriate here.

"Either that, or they're evil villains," he stated, oblivious to her death glare, "And I think it's obvious which one you are."

"You're unbelievable!" she exclaimed, just as the elevator opened on their floor, "Not all people are stereotypes, you know!"

"Of course not," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Gwen's temper seemed close to exploding. Luckily, Cooper grabbed Kevin's wrist, and pulled him to one of the rooms, locking the door behind him. Eunice led Gwen to the room beside it and smiled a sad smile as she locked the door behind her. Ben went to his room voluntarily. After locking him up as well, the two teens, as if by some unspoken mutual agreement, went to the suite.

As soon as they entered the suite, they saw on the left there was a door that lead to the bathroom, on the right- a kitchenette. In front there was a living area, with a large beige couch with several pillows on it, facing a wall. Or at least, it looked like a wall. At closer examination, they could see it was a drape that covered a floor-to-ceiling window. Across from the couch there was another couch, this one exactly the same as the other. In the middle of the two couches was a coffee table. At one end of the coffee table there was an arm chair. On the wall that the armchair was facing, there as a flat-screen TV. Behind the armchair there was a door that led to the bedroom. The walls were beige, and the floor was carpeted. It wasn't as cozy as the RV had been, but it was better than nothing.

Eunice went to the kitchen while Cooper plopped down on one of the couches. She opened the fridge to see it was stocked full of food.

"Wow," she said, taking out two bottles of soda, "Kevin and Gwen must be planning for us to stay here for a while."

"Yeah, I guess," said Cooper, as he took one of the bottles from her. Eunice looked at him, trying to figure out how to cheer him up. Finally, she sighed and got up, soda still in hand.

"Why don't we go to the dance?" she suggested.

"No, thanks. You said so yourself- I want to keep an eye on him," Cooper told her, pointing at the wall. There was a flat-screen TV and a painting on it, but it was clear that he was talking about the twelve-year-old behind it. "You can go if you want."

Eunice pursed her lips and shook her head.

"No," she said, sitting down on the couch across from him, "Someone needs to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Cooper rolled his eyes and took a long drink from the soda bottle.

"Whatever you want."

In the hotel room three doors away, Ben Tennyson was laying across his hotel bed, bored out of his mind. The room was small, with golden green wall paper, one large bed, with similar bed sheets, a dresser across from it, and a large TV on top. There was a small bedside table next to the bed, with a lamp and a bible on top of it, and a floor-to-ceiling window, covered with heavy drapes with elaborate gold designs. The floor was carpeted, the walls bare. At the foot of the bed was his suitcase, but, quite frankly, he wasn't interested in clothes at the moment.

But the worst part was that there was nothing to do! Couldn't they at least have locked them all up in one room? No, of course not. Then they would have figured out some way to escape, especially with Kevin's criminal mind, and Ben's Omnitrix. Wait- the Omnitrix!

"I can use it to escape!" Ben exclaimed. But no. Cooper would probably stop him. Something told him that the teen would have no problem with damaging the watch. Ben sighed, and fell back against the mattress. Kevin sure picked one hell of a place to stay. He was an ex-criminal. Weren't they supposed to choose exciting cities, not small towns in the middle of nowhere as their hide outs? The fact that he had run into him once in New York and again in San Francisco was proof enough of that!

In the room next to the suite, Kevin Levin was plotting an escape. The hotel rooms all looked the same. Not unlike Ben, he was bored to death, but, unlike Ben, he was gonna do something about it. They didn't lock him up in the Null Void for no reason.

Kevin went over to the door and absorbed the metal of the doorknob. He had learned how to open locked doors almost as soon as he had arrived in the Null Void, and in no time at all, the door was open. Now there was the mystery of where to go. He could go to Tennyson's room and bust him out, but then, the 11-year-old would probably irritate Kevin to death before they even got to the elevator. That left Gwen.

Kevin took a deep breath and went to the door beside him. It led to the younger red head's room. She would probably use her magic on him to try to get him to leave, but the boy was hungry for entertainment, and fighting with Gwen would just have to do for tonight.

Smirking, he opened her door just as easily as he had his own. She was sitting in the bed cross-legged, reading. Kevin rolled his eyes. Of course.

Her head snapped up almost as soon as he entered. She froze, apparently thinking that it was an army of rakari come to kill her, but relaxed when she saw it was just the boy who loved teasing her and her cousin.

"Oh," she said, "It's just you."

"'Just' me?" he repeated incredulously, shutting the door quietly behind him as he came in.

Now it was Gwen's turn to roll her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, glaring at him as he crossed the room to sit on the edge of her bed, "How did you even get out?" Her voice was filled with wonder now, not skepticism, like she was honestly curious.

He smirked.

"I learned a couple of things in the Null Void from a friend of mine," he answered.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but, what friend?" said Gwen, closing the Bible. It wasn't in Gwen's nature to dislike books, but, even she had her limits. Plus, she wasn't religious.

"Just this guy who helped me master my powers," Kevin answered with a shrug. A thoughtful expression crossed his face, like he was thinking about someone he actually liked or cared about. It made him seem more…human, and not like the monster Gwen had pictured every time she had thought of him. Not that she ever did think of him, but occasionally she, Ben, and Grandpa Max discussed the past summer, and Kevin's name came up. Nothing more.

"Someone helped you master your powers?" she finally asked, frowning at him.

"Well, yeah," he said, frowning back at her, "You didn't think I got back to normal overnight, did you?"

"Of course not," Gwen snorted, averting her green eyes from his obsidian eyes. Was it just her, or were they darker than she remembered? "I just, I don't know, figured it was just something that eventually wore off…" she trailed off lamely. Damn, it was so much easier when they were arguing!

Kevin snorted.

"Yeah, right! You have no idea how that much power influences you. Hatred and desire for more consumes you. It's terrifying. That kind of thing doesn't just pass on its own." His tone was scornful and bitter, like he was talking about some horrifying thing that had happened to someone else.

Gwen was surprised. She hadn't known what it had been like for him in that state. She mentally cursed herself, and almost automatically reached out and put her hand on his. Comforting others wasn't something that she usually did, but, then again, she didn't really spend a whole lot of time with other people. Just books, books, books.

Kevin looked just as surprised at her sudden friendliness as she was. Only he was better at masking his emotions. His first reaction to her touch was to pull away, like he had refused Quarrel's help, his mother's affection, and any other help that anyone had ever offered him. But this time was different. It was like he didn't want to pull away. But, damn it! He hadn't come here to pour his heart out to the little girl who just so happened to be his arch enemy's cousin. Even if he did like her in the future.

He took his hand away and saw something like a mixture of hurt and confusion flash across her face. He smiled a sad smile as if to say: _It's nothing personal_.

She smiled back and nodded in understanding. Although, how she could actually understand was beyond him. Then her face turned thoughtful.

"What?" he asked, frowning at her.

"Nothing," she assured him, "I'm just amazed you even know what 'influence' and 'consume' means."

He glared at her playfully.

"So, you've gotta be an uptight prep to know big words?" he asked. They were back to their regular teasing and tormenting, which was easier on both of them.

"I am not an uptight prep!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Hey, whatever floats your boat," he said, smirking at her. She glared at him. There was a short silence between them.

"You know, you never did tell me what happened to your dad," said Gwen suddenly.

"Oh, so we're still not done with this part of the conversation yet?" he asked sarcastically. He lay down on his back next to her, his arms crossed behind his head.

"Nope," she answered, "And we won't be, until you tell me what happened."

Kevin peeked up at her to see if she was serious. He knew she knew when she was crossing the line, but he also knew Gwen Tennyson was beyond stubborn. Right now, her stubbornness seemed to be winning out over reason. Normally he would've yelled at her to mind her own business, but tonight…not so much.

"It's not exactly the kind of thing you tell someone you tried to kill," he said, hoping that would faze her. It didn't. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, saving someone's life isn't something you do if you've tried to kill them," she shot back.

"You'd be surprised," he muttered, turning away from her.

"What was that?" she asked, leaning forward so that she could somewhat see his face.

Kevin sighed.

"Your cousin really didn't tell you what happened?"

"What happened when?" she asked, very confused.

"Remember when I ran into you guys for the third time? When Ben and I disappeared off into space?" he asked, trying to get her to remember.

"That's where you guys were?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah. It was some sort of alien reality-fighting-game," Kevin said, frowning at her as he tried to remember everything that had happened. His memories of what had happened when he had been mutated were a little hazy.

"Tell me," said Gwen, resting her head on her fists. Her bright green eyes were shining with excitement and anticipation.

Kevin rolled his eyes at her eagerness and started telling the story.

Back at the dance, Julie and Ben were making their way to the building.

"Nervous?" Julie asked Ben, as he watched Cooper drive away. Her slim fingers intertwined with his and he turned to look at her. She smiled a reassuring smile at him which he returned.

"Not really," said Ben, "I've got the most beautiful girl in the universe with me, so what have I got to be nervous about?"

Julie rolled her eyes.

"You have got to stop watching those reruns with Kevin," she told him, smiling as they got to the door of the high school. There were no security guards or staff there to greet them. That just made it that much easier to get in.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Ben, smiling back at her.

The second they opened the door and heard the music, they knew something was wrong. The music sounded perfect, but the voice singing the lyrics was uncomfortably familiar. Ben turned in horror to the stage, to see _his cousin_ in a short, strapless white dress that barely reached down to the middle of her thigh. If the chest hadn't been covered in silver sequins, it might've qualified as a nightgown, rather than a prom dress. That wasn't the worst part, though. Gwen was up on the stage, singing a song, miraculously hitting all the notes right and dancing crazily. It was completely obvious that she was drunk.

"Oh, man," said Ben, shaking his head. This was almost as bad as watching her and Kevin make out. Almost. "I can't believe it! He spiked the punch!"

A/N: Okay, I know this wasn't as good as the last chapter, but give me some credit! I've been really busy with school, and I wrote this at 1 a.m. R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I love you guys! Here's Chapter 9!

* * *

_Previously:_

"Oh, man," said Ben, "Kevin spiked the punch!"

"Are you sure?" said Julie, a sarcastic smirk on her face.

"What, you think she just decided to get up there and dance?" Ben exclaimed, oblivious to her sarcasm, "Where the hell is he?"

He then saw Kevin by the food table, leaning against it, an amused expression on his face, arms crossed. He was clearly enjoying this.

Ben grabbed Julie's wrist and pulled her over to him.

"Enjoying the show?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Tennyson," said Kevin, giving them a nod of acknowledgement as they approached him and not bothering to answer the question, "You finally made it."

"Yeah, finally," said Ben, not understanding how Kevin could be so calm about it, "Dude, what the heck were you thinking? Getting Gwen drunk? She's gonna kill you for this when she's sober, you know that, right?"

"She won't kill me, Ben," he said, rolled his eyes and turned his obsidian gaze to Julie. "Nice dress."

"Thanks," she said, her amused eyes still on Ben. She was enjoying this almost as much as Kevin.

The song ended and they turned their attention back to Gwen. She was stumbling in her silver four-inch heels, laughing, and one of the guys playing in the band helped her down from the stage. She stumbled again, and this time, another guy caught her. He had been dancing with another girl, but she was drunk as well, and probably didn't even notice Gwen.

The guy steadied Gwen and whispered something to her. She laughed and he leaned down to kiss her! The most surprising thing was that she didn't stop him. Instead, her arms tightened around his neck and she pulled him closer.

Ben and Julie turned to look at Kevin in fear. His fists were clenched and without hesitation, he made his way to his girlfriend and the guy who had the nerve to make out with her. He grabbed Gwen's shoulder and pulled her back against his chest forcefully. The guy glared at him and then stiffened. Gwen clutched Kevin's shirt, a smile on her face. She buried her face in his chest and murmured something to him. He wrapped one arm protectively around her and raised the other fist in a threatening way.

"Dude," he hissed, almost literally steaming, "you messed with the wrong guy." His fist flew at the guy's face, knocking him to the floor, blood pouring from his nose.

The guy stared up at him in fear. Kevin turned Gwen around and pulled her back to the food table, where Ben and Julie still stood. Ben looked mad, and Julie still looked annoyingly amused.

"Don't ever do that again," Kevin told Gwen, turning her around to face him. He gripped the tops of her arms like a toddler's, and lightly shook her.

"What, this?" asked Gwen innocently. She wrenched her arms out of Kevin's vice-tight grip and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. His arms wrapped instinctively around her and he clutched her closer.

"Okay," he said, once they pulled apart, "That you can do."

Gwen giggled-actually giggled!-and slid her hands down his arms.

"Come on, let's have some fun!" she laughed, and pulled him onto the dance floor.

"I will never understand those two," said Ben, sighing.

"And by that you mean, you will never get over how gross it is when those two make out in public," Julie laughed and took his hand. She led him to the dance floor, not far away from Kevin and Gwen. The band started playing a slow song. It was something that all of them recognized- 'Ours' by Taylor Swift. To be fair, the only reason they knew the song was because Gwen insisted on playing the CD in Kevin's car almost every week, but still.

Ben put his hands on Julie's hips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, both of them getting lost in the song. At that moment there was nothing else except for them. They didn't even notice Kevin and Gwen a foot away, making out. Gwen had one leg wrapped around Kevin's waist, and he was holding it in place. Her hands tangled in his dark hair while his free hand supported her back.

"Hey, is that Ben Tennyson?" a voice suddenly called out. A girl with dark skin, a tight midnight blue dress, large brown eyes, and messy dark brown curls was pointing at them.

Every face in the room turned to stare at him and Julie. The music stopped and everyone froze, including Kevin and Gwen.

"Uh oh," said Ben, quietly.

That did it.

Girls squealed, guys yelled, and all chased Ben and Julie out of the gym. The two ran to the nearest exit, which turned out to be a stairwell. They made it to the second floor before Julie stopped.

"Ben…" she breathed, "I…can't…"

"Julie!" Ben exclaimed, "We have to go! You play tennis for crying out loud! Isn't being able to run up a few stairwells standard for you?"

Julie glared at him.

"I can't run in these heels!" she exclaimed, pulling off the shoes, "I don't get how Gwen can!" She remembered how easily Gwen had been moving when she was dressed in a similar dress and high heels. For a moment, she wished she was the one drunk, and not dating the guy with the world's most recognizable face. Julie shuddered. If Gwen ever found out she had thought that, she'd be dead for sure.

"Great," said Ben, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation and bringing her back to the present, "Find Kevin and Gwen, I'll throw them off."

It felt like they were trying to escape from a bunch of aliens, not from a bunch of teenagers at a high school dance.

Ben left Julie and ran back into the stairwell, running to the third floor.

"There he is!" yelled a blonde girl in a knee-length pink dress. Ben was only a few feet away from the elevator, and panting heavily.

"Ben, Ben!" the teens screamed, but he was already inside. He pressed the button for the first floor.

"Phew!" he exclaimed, sinking down against the back of the elevator, "That was close."

The door opened again on the first floor, and Ben was greeted by another swarm of teenagers.

"Agh!" he screamed, frantically pushing the button to close the elevator doors.

The door closed and Ben pressed the button for the top floor. What was with these kids? How did they keep cornering him? Him, Ben Tennyson, the almighty bearer of the Ultimaterix! Wait- the Ultimaterix!

"Kevin's right," Ben sighed, "I am a total idiot!" The elevator opened again at the roof, and Ben stepped out. Not far behind him, another swarm of teenagers was running up the stairs, trying to cut him off.

He hit the dial of the watch, and turned into-

"Big Chill!"

He flew off the roof, searching for Kevin's car.

It was still in the parking lot, but getting ready to pull out. Ben flew down and changed back into his normal self. He threw open the back door and jumped in. Kevin sped off to the hotel. It was only then that Ben noticed that Gwen was asleep in the front seat beside Kevin.

"She okay?" he asked, frowning at his friend and pointing his chin at his cousin.

"She passed out when you started the riot," Kevin explained.

"When she wakes up, she'll have a killer hangover," said Julie. Her face turned slightly sheepish.

"That means that you'll have a few more hours to live, Kevin," she added with small laugh.

Kevin rolled his eyes.

"I told you," he said slowly, "she won't kill me."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Ben, frowning at the back of his best friend's head.

Kevin smirked.

"You'll see," he answered and pulled into the hotel parking lot. The high school students all thought they were still back at the dance, and probably wouldn't think to look for them in the hotel until morning. For now, they were safe.

Ben sighed and got out of the car, opening the door for Julie. Kevin got out as well and walked around to the passenger's side. His eyes ran over his sleeping girlfriend lovingly. She looked as peaceful as an angel, and just as beautiful, too. He leaned forward and unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her effortlessly up in his arms. The four of them crossed the parking lot over to the hotel lobby, where they were greeted by a sleepy concierge. He gave them the room keys without question.

When they were in the elevator Ben immediately turned on his friend.

"Dude! What the hell were you thinking?" he snapped, "There are rakari chasing us! Do you really think it's such a good idea to get her drunk at a high school dance?"

"Tennyson," said Kevin, his arms tightening around Gwen, "if I wasn't holding something that means more to me than my own life, I'd punch you in the face."

Julie smiled at her boyfriend and rubbed his arm in a soothing way.

"Calm down, Ben," she told him, "Kevin already got what was coming to him."

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked her, frowning.

"Isn't it obvious? His girlfriend made out with another guy. Because of something stupid that he did," she explained, smiling at the irony of it all.

Ben smiled, too.

"You know, you have a good point," he told her, laughing.

Kevin's arms tightened around Gwen. He was considering throwing her over his shoulder and using his free arm to knock out the obnoxious dweeb.

Suddenly the elevator door opened on their floor, bringing them out of their thoughts, to reveal a very concerned Cooper and Eunice.

"Where have you four been?" Eunice immediately exclaimed, grabbing Ben's hand and tugging him out of the elevator, "Something serious has happened!"

"What happened to Gwen?" asked Cooper, his blue eyes glued to the sleeping red head in Kevin's arms as he and Julie stepped out of the elevator.

"Eunice, what happened?" asked Ben.

"She passed out," Kevin told Cooper.

"Kevin ran off," she answered Ben, her green eyes widening in fear.

"What do you mean, passed out?" Cooper snapped, his accusatory eyes on Kevin.

"What do you mean, ran off?" asked Ben, frowning at Eunice.

"She had a little too much to drink, and when Ben was being chased by crazy fans, she fainted," Kevin told him.

"I mean, he got out of the hotel room somehow, and ran off!" Eunice explained.

Julie was standing in between them, trying to follow both conversations at the same time.

For a moment, everyone was quiet. Ben and Cooper were trying to process this new information. Finally Ben frowned and said, "I think I know where he is." He and Eunice walked over to the younger Gwen's room and found that it was unlocked, too! Ben opened the door and they saw Gwen and Kevin sitting cross-legged on Gwen's bed across from each other. They both looked up in surprise.

Ben rolled his eyes at the blonde.

"See, he snuck out of his room to go see Gwen. Nothing to worry about," he told her.

Eunice looked surprised. Cooper had said Kevin had hated Ben and Gwen when they were kids. Yet here he was, sitting on her bed like he would've done now that he was 17. She was really confused.

The younger Gwen quickly pushed Kevin off her bed. He fell down on his back and glared at her as they both got up.

"You guys are back?" she asked, walking over to the doorway with the younger Kevin on her heels.

"Yeah," Ben answered.

"Do you have any idea what could've happened? Don't you care about her at all?" Out in the hallway Cooper was yelling at the older Kevin. The older Gwen lay limp in the 17-year-old's arms.

"What happened?" the younger Gwen breathed.

"Long story," the older Ben answered.

Everyone stood frozen as Cooper's words sunk in. The older Kevin had tightened his hold on Gwen so that it was a miracle she wasn't in pain. The older Ben, Julie, and Eunice stared at the two in fear. The younger Gwen and Kevin were staring at them in confusion.

The older Kevin suddenly turned his back on Cooper and carried his girlfriend to the suite. The older Ben walked over to Cooper and put his hand on the blonde boy's shoulder.

"It was nice knowing you, Coop," he said. Everyone knew that Kevin had a violent temper, especially when it came to Gwen. Cooper had only so many get-out-of-jail-free cards with Kevin, and it was likely that this time he had stepped over the line.

"You should not have said that," Julie told him. She didn't want to watch how Kevin beat up-or possibly killed- Cooper, so she went to one of the rooms that Gwen had rented out, with Eunice following her.

The blonde girl looked over at Cooper and shook her head sadly. The younger Kevin reached past the younger red head and closed the door. He had a bad feeling about this.

Suddenly, Ben was being grabbed from behind, and hauled into the nearest wall. The older Kevin stood before Cooper, a murderous expression on his face. He drew his fist back and punched the blonde boy in the face. Cooper fell backwards and Kevin grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back to his feet. He shoved him hard against the wall and stared directly in his eyes.

"Listen, kid, I've been patient with you. You saved my life and hers too. Right now, she's the only thing keeping me from tearing you to pieces, but if you say that I don't care about her ever again, that'll change."

He drew his fist back and punched him again.

"Do you have any idea what it's like, watching her get hurt?"

"Hell, yeah!" Cooper managed to get out, "What do you think you were doing two weeks ago?"

Another punch. And another. And another.

Suddenly, a slight hand covered Kevin's now bloody wrist.

"Kevin, stop," Gwen said. Her voice was barely more that a whisper, but his reaction was immediate. His hand froze in mid air.

"Now, let him go," she told him. This time Kevin didn't budge. Gwen sighed. She was tired and her head hurt. Would it have killed Kevin to have at least one fight-free night?

"Kevin, please," she said, her voice rising, "I've got a killer hangover, aliens are after me and everyone I care about. I can't deal with you and your jealousy right now. Put him down and go to bed."

Kevin sighed.

"Gwen, he said that-"

"I don't care if he's responsible for setting the rakari on me. Just let him go, and get. To. Bed."

Kevin sighed again and let him go.

"Thank you," said Gwen and turned around, stumbling back to her room. She almost tripped but Kevin steadied her.

"Come on," he said, lifting her up bridal style, "you need some sleep."

"And you need to wash your hands," she told him, referring to the blood. Her hands wrapped around his neck and she turned her head to his chest.

Kevin smiled momentarily forgetting about the fight he had had just two seconds ago.

Ben turned his head back to Cooper and sighed.

"Really, dude, _never_ make the mistake of telling him he doesn't care about her."

Cooper turned his head to the 16-year-old and sighed. He hadn't meant any harm. He had just been concerned about Gwen and had acted without thinking. Deep down, Cooper knew Kevin cared about Gwen more than anything and that he deserved what the older teen had just given him. Then again, Kevin had put her in danger. Getting her drunk and crashing a prom? Not exactly the smartest move when you're on the run from an entire plant bent on destroying her. None the less, he felt sorry for what he had said, not to mention reminding him what had happened two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, in the younger Gwen's room, the two kids were arguing…again.

"Don't you want to know what's going on?" snapped the red head as the 12-year-old blocked the doorway.

"I'm gonna kick that dude's ass," he replied, shrugging like it didn't matter, "That's what's gonna happen."

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious," she said, crossing her arms on her chest, "Why did you react like that? What did Cooper say made you so mad? Why didn't you just drop me and beat him up right then and there?"

"Okay, I'll try to remember that next time I'm carrying you and some guy pisses me off," Kevin said sarcastically.

"I'm serious," she repeated, glaring at him.

"How am I supposed to know?" he snapped, stepping away from the door and sitting on the bed, "I know as much about the future as you."

"You have a theory," Gwen told him. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Oh, so we talk for a half hour, and all of a sudden you know me?" He was being sarcastic again. Gwen pursed her lips, fighting the urge to snap at him. If she did, she'd just be giving him what he wanted.

Instead she ignored his comment and asked, "What do you think is going on?"

"Does it matter what I think?" he asked her, his obsidian eyes watching her in a way that made her uncomfortable. It was like he was asking a question inside the question, and Gwen didn't know what to tell him. If she told him that, yes, it mattered, then she would be saying that she forgave him for everything hat he had done, when she definitely didn't. Or did she? He had saved her life after all…but he had also tried to destroy her in the Null Void. But in the future he was so nice to her and Ben, but he had also teamed up with Vilgax and tried to destroy them-

"Gwen?" His voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"What?" she asked, shaking her head.

"You okay?" he asked sounding concerned, "You zoned out there for a sec."

"I'm fine," she promised.

They heard a dull thud against the wall. Followed by another, and another, and another.

"So, I'm guessing you're gonna crash here tonight," she said, looking at him for confirmation.

He smirked.

"You got an extra sleeping bag?"

* * *

Morning came all too quickly. After the fight the older Kevin had carried his girlfriend to bed and fallen asleep beside her and Cooper and the older Ben had gone to their rooms. Sometime later Eunice had left the room she and Julie had been hiding in and gone asleep in the one next door.

In the suite, the older Gwen woke up with a killer hangover. She groaned and turned on her side, her fingers coming into contact with something warm and soft. Her green eyes snapped open and she groaned from the sudden pain that shot through her skull. She closed them again and instead used her hand to feel what was lying beside her. Her fingers soon found a small round object. A button. Suddenly, a rough, calloused hand gripped her slim fingers and lifted them up to a pair of lips. The person then kissed her fingertips and murmured "Guess who."

Gwen sighed and tried tugging her hand out of Kevin's grasp, but to no avail.

"Not now, Kevin," she moaned, "My head hurts."

"Yeah, figured that would happen," he said, and Gwen felt a pair of strong arms lift her from the bed, and then heard a thud. She was guessing Kevin had kicked the door open.

Gwen groaned and slowly opened her eyes to gaze at Kevin's obsidian ones.

"What happened?" she breathed as he set her down on the couch.

"You got drunk on the punch at the dance last night," he explained, kneeling down beside her to stroke her flame red hair.

She turned to frown at him.

"You spiked it." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Kevin smiled at her guiltily and apologetically. She sighed and closed her eyes. Suddenly, the memories of what had happened right before Kevin had carried her over to her bed for the second time that night came flooding back. Her eyes snapped open again.

"What were you and Cooper fighting about?" she asked, shutting them again. Damn humanity for inventing alcohol!

"Don't worry about that," Kevin told her in a soothing voice, "It's nothing. But you do need some food and coffee. That ought to help a little."

He got up and went to the kitchen.

"Thanks," Gwen said with a smile. It was then that she noticed she was still dressed in her prom dress. "I can't believe I slept in this."

"What, you expected me to undress you?" asked Kevin with a devious smirk on his lips as he tried to find some coffee.

"No," Gwen answered, "It's just that sequins are really uncomfortable to sleep in."

"Oh," he said. At that moment he turned the coffee maker on, and it immediately broke down. "What the heck is with this thing?" he exclaimed, hitting it on the top.

"Let me do it," said Gwen, rolling her eyes as she tried to get up. Kevin was at her side in a flash, trying to force her to sit back down.

"No, Gwen," he told her, "You still have a hangover. You could get hurt."

"Yeah," she snapped, "I have a hangover, I'm not blind."

"Gwen, seriously," said Kevin, easing her back down on the couch.

Finally she complied.

"Fine," she snapped, "Just go down to the lobby and see if they have a coffee machine or something."

Kevin smirked.

"Alright, but then I have to change first." And with that he was gone.

A few seconds later the door opened to reveal the older Gwen's cousin, and his girlfriend.

"Hey," said Ben as the two walked in and sat down on the couch opposite where Gwen was lying. Julie was wearing a pair of denim shorts similar to Eunice's, and a bright red tube top. Ben was wearing jeans, a Sumo Slammers T-shirt, and his usual green jacket. The sight was very difficult not to laugh at. "How do you feel?"

"I'm tired and I have a head ache," she snapped, "How do you think I feel?"

"Geez, I was just asking," said the brunette, holding up his hands in an 'I surrender' kind of way.

The door opened again to reveal Eunice and Cooper. Eunice was now dressed in a pink T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail. Cooper was wearing his usual outfit.

"Good morning, everyone," they said. Cooper went to sit in the armchair and Eunice sat down on the arm of the couch where Julie and Ben sat.

"Hey, Cooper," answered Ben and Julie, "Hey Eunice."

"Cooper, what happened last night?" asked Gwen, turning on her side to look at the blonde boy, "What did you say that got Kevin so mad?"

Cooper looked uncomfortable.

Luckily, he was saved by the door opening for the fourth time in the past two minutes, and this time, the 11-year-old red head and 12-year-old osmosian walked in.

"Good morning," said the younger Gwen, taking one of the chairs in the kitchen and sitting down on it. The younger Kevin sat down on the counter next to her.

"Hey," said the older Ben, "By the way, Gwen," he added as he turned to look at his cousin, "where's Kevin?"

"He went to get me some coffee," she answered.

"Isn't there a coffee maker on the counter?" asked Eunice uncertainly.

"Yes, but Kevin's hopeless at anything that goes further than pouring cereal into a bowl," she shot back.

"Hey," came Kevin's voice from the doorway, and the 17-year-old walked in, "You're not much better than me when it comes to cooking."

He smiled as he walked back over to the red head. He was now dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. She sat up, holding her hand outstretched for the coffee. He handed it to her and then sat down on the couch where just seconds ago her head had been.

"Maybe, but at least I can fix my own coffee," she answered.

"Then why didn't you?" asked the younger Kevin, making everyone else either laugh or try to suppress smiles.

The older Gwen glared at him.

"Because you wouldn't let me near electrical appliances," she snapped.

"Oh, my gosh!" the younger Gwen cried suddenly, "Where's Ben?"

Everyone turned to look at Eunice and Cooper. The two blonde teens exchanged looks and then immediately shot up. The younger Kevin handed him the keys that had been sitting on the counter since last night.

"I can't believe we forgot him," breathed Eunice as they quickly rushed to the younger Ben's room.

Cooper fumbled with the key for a second and then finally opened the door. There sat Ben, dressed in the same outfit as yesterday, hitting his head against the wall out of boredom.

"Finally!" he exclaimed when he heard the door open. He immediately ran outside past Cooper and Eunice.

A few seconds later they were back in the suite with the other six.

The younger Ben sat down on another kitchen chair and looked around at everyone in the room accusingly.

"I have a lot of questions for you guys," he stated, frowning at them.

"And we're not going to be able to move on unless we answer them," the older Gwen added angrily. The older Kevin wrapped his arm around her and tugged her into his side.

"Maybe you should get some more sleep," suggested Julie, looking at her friend in concern.

"What happened?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning at her.

"Kevin got her drunk," Eunice explained.

"You got me drunk?" exclaimed the younger red head, looking at the raven-haired boy in shock.

"No," he answered, rolling his eyes, "I _will_ get you drunk."

"Oh, like that makes it so much better," snapped the red head.

The older Gwen groaned.

"No yelling!" she snapped.

"Maybe a little more sleep isn't such a bad idea for you," said Cooper, looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine," Gwen shot back.

"Is she, Kevin?" asked the older Ben, turning to his friend.

"She'll be fine as long as no one does anything to irritate her," he answered, his dark eyes falling on the 11-year-old boy, "…Ben."

"What did I do?" the bearer of the Omnitrix exclaimed innocently, "And besides, she can't leave until she answers my questions," he added stubbornly.

"Fine," snapped the red head, "Bring on the questions."

"Where were you two last night?" he asked.

"We were at prom," Kevin answered.

"Why were you at prom?" he snapped.

"So Kevin could get me drunk," the older Gwen answered, "Speaking of which, what happened?"

"I'll ask the questions!" the younger Ben snapped and stood up on the chair.

The younger Kevin leaned down to whisper to the younger Gwen, "You're cousin's a dweeb."

She snorted.

"Tell me something I don't know." The two then sat back to endure the rest of his interrogation.

"What happened?" he repeated.

"Well, for starters you got up on stage…" the older Kevin answered, speaking to his girlfriend and not the obnoxious little freak on the kitchen chair.

"Oh my God," she breathed, burying her face in her hands.

"…and you made out with five other guys."

"So technically, you already got your revenge on him," laughed Julie.

"How does my making out with other guys accomplish getting revenge on him for getting me drunk in the first place?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning at her.

"Hey!" the younger Ben exclaimed, turning on his cousin, "What part of 'I'll ask the questions' do you not understand?"

The older Gwen groaned again, and buried her head in the older Kevin's shoulder.

"Tennyson," he said slowly and menacingly, "She said no yelling."

"Right," he whispered, getting scared of the dark teen.

The younger Gwen pursed her lips.

"Can I think of a way to get revenge on him?" she asked, smiling eagerly.

"Oh no," breathed the younger Kevin, smacking his head against the heel of his hand.

The younger Ben opened his mouth again, but Cooper put his hand over it.

"That's enough," he snapped, "You can interrogate everyone later."

The brunette boy glowered at him and sat back down on the kitchen chair.

When everyone was sure that there'd be no more interruptions from the kid, Eunice answered his cousin's question.

"I think she's already thought of something," said the blonde, smiling at her friend.

A small smile spread across the older Gwen's lips and she handed Kevin her empty cup.

"Yeah, I have," she answered, "But, first of all, did you kill any of them?" Everyone turned their gaze to the older Kevin.

He smirked and rolled his eyes.

"'Course not," he answered, "I broke one guy's nose, knocked another one's teeth out, gave the third guy a black eye, punched another one's lights out, and I'm pretty sure I either broke or dislocated another guy's shoulder."

"Terrific," groaned the older Gwen. Her head was really starting to hurt. Kevin looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Jules and Cooper are right, you need more sleep," he stated.

"Kevin, I'm fine," she argued.

Kevin smiled and got up.

"I wasn't asking permission," he told her and lifted her effortlessly in his arms. Gwen sighed but didn't protest. Kevin easily kicked the door opened and carried her back into her bedroom.

Julie sighed.

"By the time we leave there won't be a door in the hotel that won't have been messed with by one of them," she said.

The older Kevin came back and the older Ben smirked.

"I thought you were supposed to wait until after the wedding to carry her over the threshold," he laughed.

The younger red head and Kevin froze and exchanged looks.

"Hilarious, Tennyson," said the older Kevin, smirking at his friend.

The older Ben just shrugged.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Didn't you want to interrogate us, or something?" asked the younger Kevin, turning back to his old enemy.

"Right," said the 11-year-old boy, "What was that fight about?"

"Cooper said something that made Kevin mad," said the older Ben uneasily.

"By the way, sorry about that, man," said the older Kevin.

Cooper managed a small smile.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "I probably shouldn't have said that, either. So, we're good?"

"Yeah," Kevin stated, smiling back at him, "We're good."

"Did I just apologize?" asked the younger Kevin incredulously.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kevin Levin?" exclaimed the younger Gwen.

The teens rolled their eyes at each other.

"Anything else you want to know?" Eunice asked the younger Ben.

"Yeah," he said, frowning at the floor, "If you can't cook," he turned his gaze up to meet the older Kevin's, "why didn't you just order room service?"

Everyone turned to look at the 17-year-old. His expression was just as horrified as Cooper and Eunice's had been when they found out they had forgotten the younger Ben.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, hitting his head against the palm of his hand and making everyone laugh.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened and the older Gwen stepped out. She was dressed in a tight jeans skirt and bright yellow off-the-shoulder tank top. Her hair was still down, though.

"Ugh, Gwen?" said the older Ben, "I'm guessing 'get some more sleep' doesn't mean the same thing to you as it does to us, right?"

"I told you, I'm fine," she said, rolling her emerald green eyes, "and besides, I think it's time to get revenge on Kevin for getting me drunk."

"Finally!' exclaimed the younger Ben. His cousin's eyes were shining brightly, and the younger Kevin looked very interested in what the red head had decided to torture him with in the future.

"So, what do I have to do?" asked the older version of him, sighing as he sat back on the couch. He knew how devious and evil Gwen could be when she wanted to.

A sly smile spread across the red head's lips and she answered took out a bright red purse that she had been hiding behind her back.

"Shopping," she stated.

There was a moment of silence. The older Kevin sighed again.

"Alright, let's go," he said and got up, reaching for his car keys in his back pocket.

The girl smiled again.

"Oh," she said, "You're not taking me shopping."

"What?" exclaimed the older Ben. Going shopping with Gwen was just about as bad as it could get!

"You're going shopping with her," said the older Gwen and pointed at the younger version of herself.

There was silence again. The younger Gwen's eyes glowed in excitement. The older Kevin looked horrified as he fell back against the couch.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" he of the rooms that Gwen had rentde

A/N: So, that's chapter nine! R&R! Sorry about it being so short, and about the violence. I was just really, really upset when I wrote that. My grandpa's dog has been missing for two weeks, and I just found out about it. They thought that he had been kidnapped by a group of drunks that had a grudge against my grandpa, (they even sent a ransom note!) but when the police went to check it out, it turned out they were lying. And now no one knows what to do!

To everyone who's ever lot a pet, you have my deepest condolences, and to those of you, who see a lost pet poster and don't think twice about it, think twice about it.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews! I love you all! And I am really, really, really,**** really, really,** **sorry that I haven't updated for two weeks. But I'm not gonna bore you with a really long author's note. Here's chapter 10!**

* * *

The younger Gwen laughed her head off maniacally while the younger Kevin glared at her. The younger Ben smiled at the older version of his cousin.

"Good one, Gwen," he laughed.

"Yeah," the older Ben agreed and turned to face his friend, "Hey, Kevin. Maybe you should get Gwen drunk more often!" He snickered.

His cousin pursed her lips.

"Ben," said the older Gwen, "you're going, too."

"You just had to get her drunk, didn't you?" he immediately snapped at his friend. The older Kevin rolled his eyes.

The younger Gwen stopped her laughing and turned to smile at the older version of herself.

"I'm not done yet," the older Gwen informed them. Everyone froze. The younger Gwen smiled wider. She loved how evil she was in the future.

"Kevin," she pointed at the younger Kevin, "you're coming shopping with me. And Julie, you don't mind taking Ben, do you?" She smiled sweetly at her friend. Everyone was still frozen.

"NO!" yelled the younger Ben at the ceiling suddenly, "Why?"

The younger Kevin cracked a smile and the younger Gwen nearly fell off her chair laughing.

"I don't mind at all," said Julie, completely ignoring the younger version of her super hero boyfriend, "But can I buy some stuff for me, too? I caught Ben trying to sneak into my room last night."

"I told you," said the older brunette boy, "I thought I heard a rakarus in there!"

Julie and the older Gwen exchanged helpless looks and the red head shook her head.

"Alright, but Kevin?" she said, going to sit next to her boyfriend on the couch again, "You have to buy us anything we want."

"Sweet!" cried the younger Ben.

"And when I say us, I mean me and Julie," the older red head explained.

"Oh come on, Gwen!" he snapped, "That's pure torture! He's the one who got you drunk, not me!"

The older Kevin glared at the younger boy and then turned to his girlfriend, a questioning look in his eyes. She shrugged in response.

Pleased, he turned to the younger version of himself and pointed at the 11-year-old with his chin.

"Hit him," he said. The 12-year-old didn't need any more encouragement. He made his hand into a fist and hit the back of the younger Ben's head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, and rubbed his head, "What was that for?"

"A lot of reasons," said the older Gwen.

The younger Ben frowned at her and then turned his gaze to the older Kevin.

"Quick question," he said, as if though asking for permission.

"Shoot," said the 17-year-old, a smug grin on his lips.

"Why do you do everything she tells you to?"

"What?" exclaimed the younger Kevin.

"This ought to be good," Cooper whispered to Eunice. She smiled in anticipation.

The older Kevin shrugged like it was a perfectly normal question.

"Isn't it obvious? The girl can pin me to a tree without even breaking a sweat. Which is more than I can say for more than half the guys I know who are twice her size," he answered, smiling back at her again.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said the older red head, rolling her eyes, "And before I forget, someone needs to keep Ben away from all things Sumo Slammers, and Kevin from auto part stores."

"Oh, come on, Gwen!" the older Ben cried, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. The older Kevin shuddered.

"Suddenly, I miss the incursions threatening to destroy the world," he said.

"Not to mention Princess Atteia threatening to put you and me in a zoo," added the older Gwen.

"How could I forget that part?" asked Kevin, smirking at his girlfriend over the top of the couch.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked the younger Gwen.

"Long story," said the older Gwen, smiling at her.

"Is that the saying of the year, or something?" asked the younger Kevin.

"Or something," the older Ben told him.

"Oh!" Julie exclaimed, "I just remembered!" She took Gwen's diamond necklace from her back pocket and handed it to the annodyte. "I figured you'd want this back, and, well, with everything that happened last night I didn't get a chance to give it back."

"Thanks, Julie," the older Gwen exclaimed. She looked at the necklace lovingly. "I can't believe I forgot about it!"

"I can't believe it either," the older Kevin snapped, glaring at her playfully.

"Shut up," she said, punching his arm lightly. A comfortable silence settled over everyone as the girl placed her necklace back on.

"Now, I have a question," said Cooper, ruining the moment, "While Gwen's off getting her revenge on Kevin, what are we supposed to do?" He pointed at himself and Eunice.

"You can come too, of course," said the older Gwen, smiling at her friends, "Or if you want you can stay here."

Eunice and Cooper exchanged uneasy looks.

"I think we'll go," said Eunice, "You might need our help. There's no telling where the rakari could be hiding."

"That's great, but you guys really don't have to," said the older Ben, "Those things are after Gwen. And, yeah, you guys could help us out, but we can handle the rakari. No offense, but the only purpose you two serve is making hot chocolate and driving Kevin insane. Maybe you should go back home and help everyone else."

"Not a chance, Ben," said Cooper.

"We're staying," Eunice said stubbornly, crossing her arms on her chest. The 16-year-old opened his mouth to argue, but his friend spoke before he could.

"She's got a point about the rakari, though," said the older Kevin, first looking at his best friend in a way that clearly said, "Drop it," then turning to look at his girlfriend with worried eyes, "Maybe it would be safer to just stay here."

The older red head studied his face, looking for signs that he was trying to play her. She couldn't spot any, though. He was genuinely concerned.

"Don't even try it," said the younger red head, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, "You won't get out of it that easy."

"He's not trying to get out of anything," said the older Gwen, not taking her emerald green eyes off him.

"Yeah," agreed the older Ben, "If he was, he wouldn't be acting nice, he'd try to use his 'roguish charm' to try to get her to reconsider it."

The younger Ben snorted.

"Does that ever work?" he asked, momentarily forgetting his punishment for something that he hadn't done yet.

"On Gwen?" said the older Ben, "No. On every other girl in Bellwood? Hell, yeah."

"_Every _other girl?" snapped Julie, glaring at her boyfriend.

"Okay, almost every other girl," said the older Ben, looking down at his lap sheepishly.

Julie smiled a satisfied smile.

"So, what are we gonna do about the rakari?" asked Eunice, a slight frown on her beautiful face, "No offense, Gwen, but I highly doubt that you could handle an army of rakari all by yourself with just a 12-year-old to help you."

"Hey!" said 12-year-old exclaimed.

"She's got a point," said the older Ben, frowning at his cousin, "If they really do attack us, then you're gonna need more help."

"Got any ideas?" asked the older Kevin. They were no longer treating this like some sort of crazy scheme to get back at Kevin for getting Gwen drunk. They were treating this like it was something necessary, something that couldn't be avoided. In a way it was. The older Gwen and Julie couldn't walk around dressed like sluts forever.

"Yeah, actually, I do," said the older Ben, "You and the younger you go with both of the Gwens, and I'll stick with Julie and the younger me. Cooper, you and Eunice do whatever you guys want."

"Works for me," said the older Gwen, an evil smile spreading across her face.

"Uh oh," said the older Kevin, looking at her with frightened eyes, "I know that look. What are you thinking?"

The girl turned to smile at him innocently.

"Nothing important," she said, still smiling.

"Since when is Gwen an evil genius?" asked the younger Ben, "I mean, she's always been a geek, but not an evil one."

Both his cousin and the older version of her glared at him.

"Can someone please hit him for me?" asked the older Gwen, annoyance clear in her voice.

"With pleasure," smirked the younger Kevin, and whacked the 11-year-old in the back of his head again. "I love the future," he declared, smiling. The older Kevin smirked, his girlfriend and the younger version of her rolled their eyes and the older Ben pouted.

"So, can we go now?" asked the younger Gwen, excitement clear in her large, emerald green eyes.

"Sure," the older Kevin told her. He then turned to his best friend and asked, "Where's the closest mall, Tennyson?"

"A couple miles west of here. If we hurry we can make it there in about 15 minutes, give or take," the brunette teen answered.

"How does he know that?" asked the younger Gwen, frowning at the older version of her cousin.

"Tennyson's like a human GPS," the older Kevin answered, shrugging, "Watch: From my house, where's the nearest McDonald's?"

"Bellwood doesn't have McDonalds'," the 16-year-old corrected his friend, "They have Burger Shack, and you know that's nine blocks south from your house."

"See?" said the 17-year-old osmosian, smirking.

"Great," said the older Gwen, "Now, if you're done analyzing my cousin's amazing navigation skills, can we go?"

"Whatever you say, Gwen," he told her, smirking. The nine of them got up and left the hotel suite.

_One hour later:_

The two Bens and Julie were standing in a clothes store, impatiently waiting for the line to move. Julie had decided on buying a pink summer dress. It had already been one hour, and she had bought a whole bunch of things. Kevin now owed her over 300 dollars.

"I can't believe she did this!" the younger Ben complained, "I mean, I get how come she did it to Kevin, but why me?"

"It's Gwen," said the older Ben helplessly, "Who knows why she does anything."

"I'm glad she did this," said Julie, "It serves you right for not listening to her two weeks ago-"

"Oh, come on! You know why I had to do that!" the older Ben interrupted.

"- for almost making out with Eunice-"

"Julie, we've already been through this!"

"- for splitting yourself in three at my tournament and saying that awful stuff about me-"

"That was so not my fault!"

"- for what happened with Jennifer Nocturne-"

"I can't believe you're still on that!"

"- for treating Ship like a weapon, not my pet-"

"But he is a weapon!"

"-and for almost getting us killed the day before yesterday!"

"How am I supposed to control Kevin's insane temper?"

"Ben, honestly!" Julie exclaimed, "Do you ever stop making excuses?"

"Oh, come on, Julie! None of that stuff was my fault!" the older Ben cried.

"Yes, Ben, it was," she snapped, "Gwen should make you pay for all this stuff, not Kevin. I mean, how do we even know it was Kevin who spiked the punch?"

"Um, didn't he admit to it?" asked the younger Ben, quickly becoming bored and irritated with the argument. It was no fun unless he was winning.

"With Kevin, you never know," said the older Ben, "He could be lying."

"Why would he lie about doing something that he didn't do?" asked the younger Ben, frowning at him, "Kevin's a jerk, not an idiot."

"You have a point," said the older Ben. Julie sighed. Sometimes she envied her friend. Kevin might have trouble expressing himself, but at least he wasn't oblivious like Ben.

"Well, that doesn't matter since it doesn't have anything to do with this anyway," she told the two boys.

The younger Ben opened his mouth to ask something, but the older Ben cut him off.

"You're right," he said, turning his jade eyes to the ground, "I'm sorry, Julie. Really. I shouldn't have done any of that stuff. Plus, I can't really blame you for being upset. We don't spend enough time together anyway. I'm really sorry."

Julie's dark eyes softened.

"It's okay, Ben. I know it wasn't your fault. I'm sorry, too," she said, sighing.

The older Ben smiled and Julie smiled back. Then, she saw a tennis outfit, just over Ben's shoulder and smiled hugely. Ben looked back to see what his girlfriend was so immersed in. He rolled his eyes when he saw the tennis outfit and an amused smile lit up his face.

"Go ahead," he told her, "We'll keep your place in line."

Julie smiled at her boyfriend and hugged him before running off to where the outfits were hanging.

"What was that all about?" asked the younger Ben, frowning up at his older self.

The older Ben smirked.

"It's what Kevin does to avoid getting killed by Gwen. Only I'm pretty sure he actually means it," he explained, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

The younger Ben snorted.

"Kevin Levin? Apologizing? And meaning it? You've got to be kidding," he stated, rolling his eyes and crossing his hands on his chest.

"I'm not," the older Ben told him, laughing, "He says that no one's the boss of him, but when it comes to her, that rule doesn't apply."

"Gwen? Seriously?" the 11-year-old was now laughing, too.

"Yeah," the older brunette teen told him, still laughing, "One time we were at the beach, and I told him to lighten up, he said no, that no one was the boss of him, and to mind my own business, then Gwen told him, and he was like, 'Okay, Gwen'. It was hilarious."

"Are you sure we're talking about the right guy?" asked the younger boy, still laughing.

"Believe it or not, Kevin's changed. A lot," said the older bearer of the Ultimaterix, "He actually cares, now."

"That's impossible," said the younger brunette, shaking his head, "This is the guy who tried to kill me, and Gwen."

The teen suddenly froze. He was remembering what had happened a few miles outside of La Soledad. Kevin had killed all of the Echo-echoes, but then it had been his own advice to the teen that had saved his life - always keep a spare in the trunk.

"Hey, you okay?" asked the younger boy, "You look kinda weird."

"I'm fine," said the older Ben, coming back to the real world, "You just struck a memory, that's all."

"Kevin tried to kill us again?" asked the boy, his green eyes widening in shock.

"Well, not exactly," said the older boy, growing extremely uncomfortable, "It wasn't his fault. And he didn't want to hurt anyone. Or, well, he did, but-" _God, I sound like Gwen!_ He thought, mentally slapping himself.

"But he did try to kill us?" the younger boy asked, his green eyes narrowing.

"Well, yes, but-"

"And you still trust him?" the 11-year-old exclaimed, "He could try to do it again! Maybe he's plotting with the rakari!"

"No, he's not," said the teen dismissively.

"How do you know?" he snapped, reminding the teen of Gwen when someone told her she was wrong about something. Only the look was usually directed at Kevin, not him.

"Because he'd rather die than have Gwen get hurt," the teen told him.

The boy opened his mouth to argue, but his eyes widened.

"What?" he asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

"What I mean is, when Kevin first came here, I didn't trust him, not really. Gwen did, though. She sees a different person when she looks at him. He cares about her," the older teen explained, "because she's given him second chances like there's no tomorrow. He's really tried not to mess up, but it doesn't last for long." The teen was laughing now.

The 11-year-old was speechless. He then remembered something that he'd long since forgotten.

"You said that when Kevin tried to kill us, it wasn't his fault," he said, "About a year ago, I had this dream about the future. We were trying to beat up some crazy villain, but he was too powerful. Kevin was there, and he absorbed the Ultimaterix to save everyone. But he went insane, like last time. Is that what you meant?"

"Yeah," the teen told him, "He saved the universe, but it cost him his humanity."

"So, that wasn't a dream?" asked the boy.

"No, it wasn't," the teen told him.

At that moment Julie came over, holding the outfit, along with a few other things.

"Hey," she said, smiling, "I just got a text from Eunice. She and Cooper are at the food court. She asked if we wanted to join them. I said yes. We're almost at the front, anyway."

"Eunice has a cell phone?" asked the older Ben, frowning at his girlfriend.

"No, Cooper bought it for her," the girl explained.

"Oh," said the older Ben, just as they got to the cash registers.

Once Julie's stuff was paid for, they left to go to the food court, which was only a few stores away.

* * *

Cooper and Eunice had been wandering the mall aimlessly for a whole hour. Neither of them had bought anything, and they were both wishing that they'd stayed with either Gwen and Kevin or Ben and Julie. It would've been fun watching the teens try to control the little monsters that they used to be.

"So what's it like, working for Asmuth?" Cooper asked her, trying to start a conversation.

"It was kind of boring, actually," said Eunice, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She was shy, as always. She didn't get how Julie and Gwen could be so comfortable around Ben and Kevin.

"How can working for the smartest man in the universe be boring?" Cooper asked her, a small smile on his mouth.

"It's not exactly 'life-threatening missions every day' like it is for a Plumber. It's mainly just paperwork or science experiments," she told him, "I almost got my hand blown off once." She grimaced.

"Yeah, and Asmuth's probably not the easiest guy to work with either," said Cooper sympathetically, "Ben told me how he sometimes just comes around to give him a hard time about some or other mission that he couldn't or didn't complete."

Eunice laughed.

"That sounds like Asmuth," she said, smiling at the blue-eyed boy.

Suddenly Cooper grabbed her arm and pulled her into one of the stores. Eunice was confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning at him.

"If you're gonna be on Earth for a while, then you're gonna need a cell phone," Cooper told her.

Eunice looked around and saw a whole wall of cell phones.

"Pick one out," Cooper told her, smiling as she looked at the phones in admiration.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked, looking at him.

"Of course not," Cooper said, smiling at her, "It's on Kevin, anyway," he reminded her.

Eunice smiled and went back to picking out a cell phone.

"I still can't believe he got her drunk," Eunice said, laughing, "I wonder what it was like."

"Well, you're probably not gonna find out," Cooper told her, smiling, "Kevin's learned his lesson. He'll probably never get her drunk again."

"'Probably?'" the girl repeated, smiling at him slightly.

"With Kevin, you never know," he told her, "Here, how about this one?" He took down a touch-screen, silver cell phone.

"Perfect," she said, smiling at him, "I'm sorry about what Kevin did to you last nigh." She looked at his face sadly. There were sill marks of what Kevin had done last night.

"Don't worry about it," he told her, "I had it coming, anyway."

"You were just worried about her," said Eunice, "No one can blame you for that."

"Yeah, but I still shouldn't have said that stuff about Kevin not caring about Gwen. Everyone with eyes could see that he does."

"That's true, I guess," said Eunice, smiling at him. Her stomach suddenly grumbled.

"You're hungry," Cooper said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten since last night," Eunice agreed.

"Come on," he said, taking the phone and going to pay for it at the counter.

Ten minutes later they were sitting at a booth in the food court. Cooper was eating a tuna sandwich and Eunice a salad. She was watching him with a frown on her face.

"How can you eat that?" she asked, frowning at him.

"You don't like tuna?" he asked, frowning back at her, "Or the sandwich in general?"

"The tuna," she answered, "I'm a vegetarian."

"Really?" he asked, slightly surprised. He hadn't thought that, since she was basically a machine, she could tell the difference between chocolate cake and broccoli.

Eunice smiled sheepishly.

"Just because I'm the core of an Omnitrix doesn't mean I don't have taste buds," she told him, taking a fork-full of salad and putting it in her mouth.

He looked slightly taken aback.

"No, I didn't mean that-"

"Or that I don't care about animals. In case you haven't noticed, I love them. Eating them, even if it's just a fish that someone fished out of the sea, is wrong," she told him.

Cooper was surprised.

"Of course, I just thought that-"

"What?" she snapped, "What were you gonna say?"

"Nothing," he said, turning back to his sandwich. Eunice glared at him and he put it back down. Ben had always teased Kevin about always doing everything his girlfriend told him to, but he had to admit that he kind of understood the osmosian now. If Eunice, the shy girl who talked to animals was this frightening, imagine the red haired annodyte.

"You know, suddenly I'm more in the mood for a smoothie," he said, throwing the sandwich away in the nearest trash can, "You want one?"

Eunice smiled at him, becoming noticeably more cheerful now that the dreaded tuna sandwich was gone from his hands.

"Sure," she said. Cooper smiled at her.

"Oh, and before I forget, here," he said and handed her his cell.

"What's this for?" she asked, frowning at him as she took the phone.

"Put mine, Gwen, Kevin, Julie, and Ben's numbers in your phone," he told her, showing her how to do it. "If you get into trouble just call one of us and we'll come help you."

"Oh, alright," said Eunice, smiling at him, "Thanks."

Cooper smiled back at her and left.

Eunice turned back to the phone. She had known how to input the numbers. She knew how to work pretty much every phone that Earth had to offer. Asmuth had been a great teacher, and even though he was extremely hard to work with, she had learned a lot over the past week and a half. Earth phones were one of the first things on the list.

She quickly found Julie's number and texted her:

'_Cooper and I r at the food court. U and Ben wanna come 2? Cooper got me the phone. –Eunice_

A fewminutes later Cooper returned with two smoothies.

"Didn't know what flavor you liked, so I got you strawberry. You don't have anything against drinking berries, do you?" he asked, smiling.

Eunice laughed.

"No," she told him, sipping the smoothie, "I invited Ben and Julie here. Is that okay?"

"Of course," he told her, smiling. Just then, the couple, along with the obnoxious 11-year-old arrived.

"Hey, guys," said Julie, taking a seat next to Cooper. The older Ben sat across from her next to Eunice, leaving the 11-year-old to find a chair and sit down at the end of the table.

"So," said Cooper, a teasing smile on his face as he looked at the older Ben, "How was shopping?"

"It was a nightmare," said the younger Ben, "Shopping with her is even worse than shopping with Gwen! Plus, Kevin owes her, like, a fortune."

"Really?" asked Julie, her eyes narrowing at the older version of her boyfriend.

"Of course not," said the older Ben, "Heh, you know how kids are."

Julie smiled and turned to the blonde sitting across from her.

"What about you guys?"

"Cooper got me the phone, that's all," she told the girl, smiling as she took out her new cell phone.

Suddenly, Ben's phone rang.

"Speaking of phones," he muttered, reaching for it in his pocket and leaving the table.

"We definitely need to go shopping now," said Julie, smiling at the blonde, "I know Ben and Gwen's grandma got you normal stuff, but the stores here are incredible."

"Shopping might not be possible," said the older Ben as he came back, "We need to stay here."

"Why?" asked the younger Ben.

"That was Ken, Gwen's brother," he told them, "He said Gwen's not answering her phone and that he needs to talk to us. I told him where we are and he's coming now."

"Ken?" the younger Ben repeated, "He knows about the Omnitrix, too?"

"The whole world knows about the Omnitrix," Cooper told him.

"What's Ken doing here?" Julie asked, frowning at the table.

"I don't know," said the older Ben, "All he said was that it was important."

"Wait, Gwen has a brother?" asked Eunice, frowning at the brunette teen beside her.

At that moment, a red headed man in jeans and a denim jacket approached the table.

"Hey, Ben. Hey, Julie," he greeted them.

"Hey, Kenny," the older Ben answered.

"Hi," said Julie.

"Wow," said the younger Ben, looking at his cousin.

"Um, Kenny, this is the younger me, Eunice, and Cooper," said the older Ben.

"Nice to meet you," said Kenny, taking another chair and placing it beside the younger Ben's, "Or, well, see you again, in Ben's case." He smiled at the younger version of his cousin.

"Hey, Kenny," he said, smiling back at his cousin.

"So, what's going on?" Cooper asked, "How did you get here anyway?"

"Grandma Verdona sent me here to warn you guys," he told them, "Where's Gwen and Kevin?"

"Gwen's torturing Kevin with shopping," the older Ben explained.

"Why?" he asked, an amused smile spreading across his face.

"He got her drunk last night," Eunice told him.

Ken looked uneasy.

"No, he didn't," he announced, "That was me."

Everyone froze, staring at him in shock.

"She would've sensed my energy here if she was sober. Also, there was a guy there who called her a slut, even though his own girlfriend had made out with half the male population."

"So, you made Kevin take the fall," said the older Ben.

"No, that was his idea," he said, "I needed to get you guys out of the hotel, and he figured she would make him take her shopping as revenge."

"Wait, so he knew she was gonna do this?" snapped the younger Ben.

"Pretty much, yeah," said Ken.

"If you wanted to warn us, why didn't you?" asked Julie.

"The rakari were watching. That's what I came here to warn you about. If I talked to Gwen, they'd figure I was important to her and the result would be, well, bad," the college student explained, "But, now for the real reason I'm here, the rakari are here!"

The wall was suddenly knocked down.

"Right you are," said a wicked looking rakarus with a huge gun in his hands.

* * *

"Just pick one!" cried the younger Kevin. He, his older self, and the two Gwens were in a shoe store, and the girls had been trying on shoes for half an hour. The 12-year-old was trailing her impatiently, wanting the day to end sooner, or else a meteor to drop out of the sky and crush him. That seemed like an impossibility, since he had seen his older self 5 minutes ago.

"Honestly, Kevin," snapped the older Gwen, looking up from the red sandals she had been trying on. She couldn't decide between these and a pair of beige boots. The sandals were cute, but the boots were completely gorgeous. "You're much easier to shop with in the future. Or, well, you used to be."

"Used to?" asked the 12-year-old, frowning at her.

"Yeah," she said, turning back to her shoes, "Until you played a prank on the store manager."

"What kind of prank?" smirked the boy. The red head narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't even think about it," she said. The boy shrugged and she turned back to the sandals.

Across the store, the younger red head was trying to choose between a pair of sky blue and pink flats.

"I can't choose!" she exclaimed, looking at her feet in the mirror for the hundredth time.

"Then get them both," said the 17-year-old, shrugging. His hands were in his pockets as he watched the 11-year-old girl. She looked up surprised.

"You're paying for them. You know that, right?" she asked unsurely.

"'Course," he told her, smiling slightly, "I always pay whenever Gwen and I go out."

"What?" the younger girl exclaimed.

"I mean, um, whenever she makes me take her shopping," he hastily corrected himself.

"Oh," she said, "Well, alright, then. By the way, how often do I make you take me shopping?"

The 17-year-old laughed.

"A lot," he told her, and led her across the store, where the older Gwen and younger Kevin were.

"Hey," he said, smiling at his girlfriend.

"Hey," she said, looking up at him, "Which ones?" she asked, holding up one sandal and one boot.

"Boots," he told her, smirking.

"Sandals it is," she said, putting the boots back. The older Kevin smirked. Suddenly, she froze.

"You knew I was gonna do that, didn't you?" she asked, her emerald green eyes narrowing.

"Why, Gwen?" he exclaimed, pretending to be surprised and offended, "What would make you think that?"

"The fact that you're trying to look innocent, the smirk that was on your face two seconds ago, and you hate beige," she answered.

"You think you know me so well," he smirked. The two kids were watching the confrontation with interest. They could both tell that it was gonna be a good one, and didn't want to miss it. The younger red head wanted to find out how else she was gonna trick the master of all things illegal, and the 12-year-old osmosian still thought that there was something going on between him and Gwen. He was determined to prove it.

"Oh, like you know me?" the older Gwen snapped, getting up and taking a step closer to the 17-year-old.

"Don't I?" the older Kevin asked her, his smirk widening. They were only a few inches apart now. It wouldn't have been hard to grab her and kiss her. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her, run his fingers through her beautiful hair, feel her pressed against him. If it weren't for the two kids watching them, he would've done it, to. It didn't matter that they were in a department store, or that there were many people around them, shopping. All that mattered at that moment was them.

"Prove it," she breathed, her fingers trailing up his chest. She felt his chiseled chest under her fingertips, through the thin material of his T-shirt. She remembered what it had been like when Kevin had turned human again, how he had held her in his arms when they kissed. She could feel his warm skin through the material of her shirt, feel his heart beating-

"I would," he said, bringing her out of her memories and taking her hands and putting them down at her sides, "But maybe you ought to put me through my punishment first."

The girl's eyes widened and her eyes immediately flickered to the two kids.

"Oh, right," she said. It was amazing how quickly she could forget everything when she was with Kevin. It was so easy to get lost in his deep obsidian eyes…

"Well, I do have one torture still planned for you," she said, smirking, "but it's in another store." She turned to the two kids and asked, "Can you two be good and stay here until we get back?"

"Him?" said the younger Gwen, looking at the two teens incredulously, "Be good? I don't think so."

The older version of her laughed and knelt down so that she could whisper to her.

"If he tries to leave call him by his full name. That usually does the trick." She looked up and smiled at her. "Can you do that?"

"Okay," the girl said, laughing.

The older red head got up and pulled her boyfriend out of the store, leaving the two kids at the shoe store.

"What did she say to you?" asked the younger Kevin, frowning at the red head.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, smiling, "I wonder what kind of torture I've got planned for you."

"You've been spending way too much time with me," he told her, rolling his eyes, "When we first met you were the goody-goody that didn't want her cousin to get mixed up with the wrong people. That is, me."

"Well, duh," she said, rolling her eyes, "You were criminally insane back then. Of course, you're still criminally insane."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smirking at her, "How do you figure?"

"You got me drunk," she snapped, glaring at him.

"Hey, it's not my fault that someone else spiked the punch and you all thought it was me," he answered.

"You admitted you did it," she snapped at him.

"I was lying," he told her simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"No you weren't," she said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Yes, I was," he shot back.

"Than why didn't you say anything?" she snapped.

"I figured I had a plan or something," he told her, shrugging again.

"How do you know you were lying?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing as she pointed an accusing finger at his chest.

He looked at her like it was obvious.

She suddenly frowned at something behind him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her, looking back, expecting to see some horrible pair of shoes or something like that.

"Get down!" she cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him down behind a shelf.

"Who are we hiding from?" he asked, peeking out from behind the side of the shelf. Gwen tugged at his arm again, pulling him back. She then looked out from behind the shelf herself. He frowned and chanced looking out again.

"The rakari?" he asked, frowning looking around for the cause of the girl's distress.

"No," she told him, "See that guy out there, with the red hair, jeans, and denim jacket?"

There was someone like that standing outside by the entrance of the shoe store. He had green eyes and looked like he was waiting for someone.

"Yeah, who is it?" Kevin asked her.

"That's my brother, Ken," she told him.

"You have a brother?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she told him, "In this time period he should be in college."

"So?" he asked, frowning at the guy.

"_So_, Ken doesn't know anything about my powers! And I'm supposed to be 16 now. If he saw me like this, I would be in sooo much trouble."

The 12-year-old snorted.

"What's so funny?" she asked, glaring at him.

"You can face a bunch of aliens without breaking a sweat, glare at me defiantly when it's clear I'm gonna kill you, but you're scared of your brother?" he said, "You gotta admit it's kind of funny."

"No, it's not," she snapped at him, "You don't know my family. If they found out about my powers, they'd kill me. Especially my mom." The girl shuddered.

"Wow, and I thought I had it rough," he said, "My mom's always known about my powers and so has my dad. Then she married Harvey. He hated me because of them, so I ran away."

"So, if my family finds out about my powers, worst case scenario, I turn into you," she said, smirking.

"No you won't," he told her, rolling his eyes.

"What makes you think so?" she asked, frowning at him.

"You've seen what it's like in the future. Does it look like you turn into me?" he told her.

The girl glared at him. She had forgotten they were in the future. How was that possible? Gwen kept her focus on everything, no matter what. And now she was forgetting things?

"You okay?" he asked, frowning down at her.

"Fine," she answered.

"Hey, look, your brother's gone," he said, pointing at the door. There was no longer any red headed guy standing outside the shoe store.

"Great," she said, and got up. Just as they were about to go sit back on the chairs, something knocked down the shelf. Gwen gasped as Kevin pulled her to safety. Above them, a large, purple and silver alien was staring down at them. Around them, the whole store was in chaos.

"Ha, ha!" the rakarus cackled, "We meet again, Gwen Tennyson."

* * *

"What did you say to her?" the older Kevin asked as they exited the store, frowning at the older Gwen.

"You'll find out," she told him, "Trust me."

He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't get anything else out of her. Then he noticed the name of the store she was taking him to.

"Victoria's Secret?" he asked, smiling at his girlfriend, "I thought this was supposed to be torture for me."

"It is," she told him, smiling evilly, "Now, go ahead, pick something out."

He looked at her in shock.

"For me, Kevin," she said laughing. The older Kevin glared at her and then set to work finding the hottest lingerie he could. After a few minutes Gwen was in the dressing room, trying on a black bra and a pair of black lace panties. Kevin was waiting outside patiently.

"Okay, get in here," she said, smiling. Kevin smirked and pulled away the curtain and stepped inside the cubicle. His eyes raked over her body and he immediately pounced on her. She laughed and pinned his wrists to the wall with her manna.

"What the hell, Gwen?" he exclaimed, struggling against it.

"Prove it," she told him, repeating what she had said in the shoe store. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Fine," he finally said, sighing, "Your favorite flowers are yellow roses, but your favorite color is red, you love dolphins, you're scared of sharks and you've never told that to anyone but me, you hate it when people ask you about your future, your favorite place is the lake, not the library like everyone thinks, you hate your mother's side of the family, but you'd never tell her that." She released his wrists and looked at him with wide eyes. He really had been paying attention to what she said most of the time. She just figured he zoned out whenever she started talking about stuff like that.

Kevin stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"The only person you've never had to pretend for is me," he breathed and pressed his lips gently on hers. His tongue licked her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She granted it, wrapped her arms around his neck and clutched him closer. Their tongues battled for dominance. They kissed long and hard. Kevin started trailing kisses along her jaw. He stopped at her ear and breathed, "You love it when I do this."

He nibbled on her earlobe and she moaned quietly. He smirked and trailed kisses down her neck.

"And you hate hickeys," he told her.

"Alright," Gwen breathed, lightly pushing him away, "You've made your point."

At that moment a large crash, and screams could be heard coming from outside.

"What was that?" Gwen exclaimed.

The wall that separated the dressing rooms from the rest of the store was suddenly knocked down. Kevin hugged Gwen to his chest and absorbed the wall he had just been pinned to, so that neither of them would get hurt. When the avalanche had passed, they both looked up to see a silver and purple striped alien holding a large gun, a smirk on her face.

"You should've picked some other place to make out with your boyfriend, princess," she hissed, pointing her gun at the annodyte.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I love you guys! And thanks to Dark Shining Light for being so concerned about my lost pet, and also the awesome reviews. You're the best!

_Previously:_

"You should've picked some other place to make out with your boyfriend, princess," the rakarus sneered, standing in the midst of the ruined wall and pointing her gun at the two embracing teenagers.

The alien shot at them. Gwen put up an energy shield in front of her and Kevin. When the shots stopped, Kevin stepped around the shield and grabbed the alien's collar in one hand. He punched her in the face.

"Nobody interrupts me when I'm making out with my girl!" he snapped.

Gwen rolled her eyes and checked to see that the rakarus was out cold.

"How sweet," she said sarcastically.

Kevin smirked and took her hand, planning on pulling her out of the store.

"Wait!" she cried, "What about my clothes?"

"Does it look like we have time for that?" he snapped, motioning towards the front of the store, where three other rakari were standing, obviously waiting for the two teens to try to escape.

But Gwen was stubborn. She stood in place, her arms crossed on her chest.

"Fine," he sighed and pulled off his own shirt.

Gwen frowned at him but put on the shirt nonetheless.

"I've had worse," she stated, looking down at herself.

"You look hot," Kevin told her, still looking at the three aliens at the entrance and taking her hand again, "Let's go."

When they got to the front of the store, the rakari were already waiting for them. Gwen put up another energy shield. When they were done, she shot plates of manna at them, destroying two of the guns.

The third one was left for Kevin. While he was concentrating on the annodyte, the osmosian had absorbed the weapon. His fist grew twice the size it normally was and knocked the alien through the glass window.

Meanwhile, Gwen had used her manna to tie up the remaining rakari. When Kevin was done with his alien, he grabbed one of the clothes racks and dumped all the lingerie on the floor. He twisted the metal rod and tied up the three aliens.

"Shame," he said, "There were a couple of things there I wouldn't have minded seeing you in."

Gwen elbowed him in the stomach.

"Please keep your perverted thoughts to yourself," she said.

The teen smirked and ran out of the store with the girl following him. When they were outside, they saw the whole mall was in chaos. There were aliens everywhere. They quickly ran down the stairs, narrowly avoiding several shots to the head.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

"We need to get everyone else," she argued.

By now they were on the first floor by the fountain that stood in the centre of the mall. A rakarus jumped down from one of the escalator rails, crying a war cry. Kevin grabbed Gwen's shoulders and pulled her down so that the thing landed in the water, where it was shortly electrocuted thanks to its weapons.

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?" Kevin snapped, punching another one that had gotten just a bit too close.

"Because it's the right thing to do!" Gwen cried, throwing more manna at the aliens.

"Look, I don't care about the right thing right now!" he snapped, throwing one over his shoulder effortlessly, "I care about making sure you're safe!"

"Kevin…that is really…nice…but Ben could be in…trouble and so could…the younger us!" Gwen snapped, fighting hand-to-hand with another rakarus, who almost succeeded in pushing her into the water. Luckily Kevin grabbed the back of his collar and tossed him back across the mall.

"The only way that they're gonna be safe is if you're not here. We need to go!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm.

Gwen froze, staring at him.

"Alright," she finally agreed. She put an energy shield over them and they took off for the front doors. Gwen endured each blow of the guns like it was nothing, even though it was far from nothing. Soon, though, it was clear that there were too many of them. They had the two teens trapped underneath a small pink dome.

Gwen yelled out the dreaded transportation spell, taking her and Kevin out of the store and into the parking lot.

"Ugh," she groaned and collapsed.

"Gwen!" Kevin exclaimed, catching her as she fell.

Gwen groaned and opened her tired eyes to gaze into Kevin's worried ones. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, assuring himself and her that she was fine.

"I'm fine," she promised him, placing her free hand on his cheek.

"Don't do that spell again," he told her. Gwen smiled.

"Yes, sir," she said teasingly.

Kevin smirked and lifted her up. He placed her in his car and buckled the seatbelt like she was a small child. Gwen sighed. She loved it when he let his softer, more caring side show, but he didn't have to go overboard with it.

Suddenly, she remembered something and frowned. She sunk back into the seat, lost in thought.

They were driving for about five minutes when Kevin realized that the girl was being uncharacteristically quiet.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at her briefly.

"It's what you said earlier," she said, "Just before we left. That the only way they were gonna be safe was if I wasn't around."

"Gwen, I didn't mean it that-"

"I know you didn't," she told him, turning to gently smile at her overprotective boyfriend, "It doesn't change the fact that you're right, though."

Kevin frowned. They were driving down a thin road through a thick forest. The rakari couldn't have found them if they wanted to. She suddenly snorted. Kevin turned his frown to her briefly.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I sound exactly like you," she told him.

"What?" he asked, "When have I ever said that?"

"Oh, come on," she said, turning to look at him, or at least the side of his profile that she could see, " 'You'd be better off without me', 'Stay out of it, Gwen', 'If I wasn't here-'"

"Okay, okay," he exclaimed, getting uncomfortable under her stare, "I get it."

The girl smiled and then got that thoughtful look on her face again.

"If you weren't here, it would be even worse," he told her after several seconds of silence.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Gwen, if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead a hundred times over," he said, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to gaze at her.

She shuddered. Suddenly, her face took on that look that only her mom had when she was extremely pissed off.

"Kevin Ethan Levin, if you ever say that again, I swear I will crash your car, right after I've destroyed your tool kit," she promised. Kevin chuckled. The girl cocked an eyebrow at him. Seeing she was serious, the osmosian's eyes widened and he turned back to the road, a look of fear evident in his obsidian eyes.

"Where are we going?" Gwen suddenly asked, seeing that they weren't going back to the hotel, "All our stuff's at the hotel."

"We're not going to the hotel," Kevin told her, stating the obvious, "It's too dangerous. The rakari found us at the mall. It wouldn't be hard to track us down at the hotel, too."

"Alright," she said, crossing her arms on her chest, "Where are we going, then?"

Kevin smirked.

"You'll see."

* * *

The younger Gwen and Kevin stared at the alien in horror. He smirked and lifted the gun, pointing straight at the young girl's chest. Gwen's eyes widened. Kevin got his bearings back just in time to push her out of the way. The bullet missed its initial target, but hit the 12-year-old in the leg. The boy howled in pain and collapsed on top of the girl.

"Kevin?" she breathed, gently pushing him off her.

The rakarus smirked when he saw the girl completely defenseless, and the boy who was twice as strong as any 12-year-old should be, in extreme pain. The younger Gwen quickly cast one of the easiest spells that she knew, but that would also be very effective in this situation, catching the monster off-guard.

"Turbo!" she cried. Suddenly, a small twister came in and carried the rakarus out of the store, him cursing the whole way.

The younger red head knelt down by the boy and asked in a worried voice:

"Are you okay?"

He groaned but got up nonetheless.

"Yeah, I like getting blasted by guns," he told her sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"Come on," she said, wrapping an arm around his waist to help him up, "We need to find everyone else and get you some sort of medical help."

"And by that you mean the blonde kid who's crushing on you, and who the hot blonde chick likes," he said, wrapping an arm around the red head's shoulder and exiting the store, leaving all the shopping bags behind and ducking out of the way of a bullet or energy blast every once in a while.

"Eunice?" Gwen asked, pulling him down just as a shot was fired straight at their heads. She murmured another spell that covered them with an energy shield.

"Yeah," he answered, tucking her closer to him, "You haven't noticed that?"

"Please, I'm not stupid," said Gwen, rolling her eyes and murmuring another spell towards an approaching rakarus. He was immediately trapped in between two rocks that seemed to have grown from the ground. "Of course she likes him. Too bad he doesn't like her back."

"Yeah, too bad," Kevin agreed. He suddenly wondered if the girl had noticed what he had about the older them. No, probably not. She wasn't stupid, or oblivious, but she was stubborn. If there was something that she didn't want to see, even if it was going on right under her nose, she wouldn't notice it.

"Humungusour!" they suddenly heard someone cry out. They exchanged looks and thought at the same time, _Ben._ Sure enough, a few seconds later, a dinosaur-like alien immerged from the food court, a giant insect following it. After that, a teenager with blonde hair ran out behind them. Suddenly, someone grabbed the younger Gwen and pulled her under a table where Julie, Eunice and Ken were hiding. And, of course, since the younger Kevin was holding onto her, he fell down to his knees beside her, giving a small yelp as pain coursed through his injured leg.

There were clothes scattered all over the floor of the food court. It looked like Gwen's twister had come in and thrown all the clothes Julie had bought around and around until they were unrecognizable and damaged beyond repair.

The younger Gwen gasped when she saw who had pulled her down.

"Ken!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Gwen. Hey, Kevin," he said, smiling at his little sister, "What's up?"

"Let's see," said the younger Kevin, "We just barely made it out of a shoe store alive, aliens are trying to invade the Earth because they think a 16-year-old girl's gonna wipe them out of existence, and we were plucked from our time by your crazy grandma."

"So basically, nothing new," said Ken, shifting his gaze to the 12-year-old. He shrugged in return.

"Weren't Kevin and Gwen supposed to be with you two?" Eunice asked, a small frown on her face.

"Yeah, they left because she had some other torture in mind for me," the younger Kevin smirked.

Ken frowned.

"Torture?" he repeated.

Julie grimaced.

"Knowing Gwen, it shouldn't be too hard to guess what that is," Julie told him, a small smile on her face. Ken shuddered, hoping it would go unnoticed by the two kids. He could picture exactly what his sister had in plan for her osmosian boyfriend. Their parents might think that she was innocent and sweet, and to a degree, she was, but this was the girl who had chased him around the backyard when they were kids, threatening to beat him up with a baseball bat, the girl who had helped him get a date with the girl he liked back at college, and a whole lot of other stuff that his parents shouldn't and wouldn't find out about.

The shuddering hadn't gone unnoticed by Kevin, though. He noticed everything.

"Wait, you know about my powers?" the younger Gwen suddenly asked, bringing both of them out of their thoughts and frowning at her brother.

"Yeah, the whole family knows about your powers," Ken told her, "And everyone's really proud of you. Although, about Kev-"

Julie covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shh!" she snapped at him.

The two kids exchanged confused looks. The younger Kevin smiled at her and then mouthed, _I told you so._ She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

"Kevin!" Eunice exclaimed, her green eyes widening, "What happened to your leg?"

"Rakarus," Kevin explained, shrugging.

"This is all very touching," Humungusour's gruff voice erupted through the food court, "but we have a situation here!"

"Yeah," Stinkfly agreed, shooting some weird goo at the approaching rakari, "So cut the family reunion and help us fight!"

"Actually, I was just gonna ask Gwen to teleport us out of here," Humungusour told him, throwing a screaming alien into a window.

"Okay, that works too," Stinkfly said, "You know a spell for that?" he asked Gwen.

"Yeah," she told him, "But I don't know if I can do it. It takes a lot of magic."

"Gwen," Cooper exclaimed, coming in to view from behind a large potted plant. His eyes were that strange mechanical blue and he was being followed by five rakari. Their weapons promptly exploded. "Kevin's hurt. If that wound isn't taken care of, it'll get infected. We're losing and need to get out of here. Fast. Can you at least try?"

Everyone turned to stare at the 11-year-old girl. She sighed.

"I'll try," she said and tried hard to remember the spell. She muttered it quietly, and in a few moments the eight of them found themselves standing - or in Kevin's case lying on the ground – outside of the Rustbucket. Gwen promptly collapsed on top of the young osmosian. His eyes widened as he wrapped an arm around her and adjusted her to a more comfortable position. It was almost like he was doing it involuntarily.

"Gwen!" Ken and Cooper yelled. The girl's brother lifted her up in his arms anxiously.

"Is she okay?" Eunice asked, frowning at the all too peaceful girl.

"She'll be fine," the older Ben told her, having changed back to his normal self along with Stinkfly, "It's what she was talking about. It takes too much out of her. Kevin hates it when she does that spell. I remember one time-"

"Fascinating," Cooper interrupted him, "but we need to go. The rakari probably think she transported us to somewhere else inside the mall. It won't take long for them to figure out we aren't there. And I need to take care of that." He pointed at Kevin's wound. It still hurt like hell.

"Alright," said the older Ben, starting to open the door of the Rustbucket, "The rakari aren't too bright, are they?" No one bothered to answer him.

"Wait!" the younger Ben suddenly exclaimed, "What about Kevin and Gwen?"

Everyone paused. Julie quickly scanned the parking lot for Kevin's car.

"They probably got out already. Let's go to the hotel," she suggested, "I'm sure we'll meet up with them there."

"No," Ken told her, "The rakari are back at the hotel, remember? Kevin probably took her someplace else."

"Wait, what?" asked the younger Kevin.

"Grandma Verdona sent Kenny here to warn us about the rakari, he wanted to keep an eye on Gwen, got her drunk at the dance, talked to you and told you that he needed us to get out of the hotel, you decided to take the fall cuz you knew she'd take us all shopping as revenge, and now he ran into us at the food court when Gwen wasn't answering her cell phone," the younger Ben explained all in one breath, "That about sum it up for you?" he asked.

"Sure," said the 12-year-old, smirking, "I knew I wasn't the one who got her drunk!"

"Alright, now that Kevin's caught up," said the older Ben, rolling his eyes at his friend, "Kenny, go put Gwen in bed, Cooper, take care of Kevin, I'll drive."

"You'll drive?" Kenny repeated, raising an eyebrow at his cousin. He and Gwen had the same 'You realize that's not happening, right?' face.

The older Ben pouted.

"Fine, you can drive," he snapped, taking his cousin from the college student. He smiled and opened the door. Cooper heaved Kevin up over his shoulder, carried him inside, and set him down on the couch, getting to work on the wound. The osmosian was clearly uncomfortable with being carried around like he was a puppet or something, but didn't bother to say it out loud. Was he already changing for the better? Man, being in the future was confusing. The older Ben took his cousin to the bedroom and set her down on his bunk.

The two older girls sat down in the kitchen chairs with the younger Ben. Kenny sat down behind the wheel.

"Eunice, do we have a first aid kit?" Cooper asked the girl, seeing that there wasn't anything he could do without medical equipment. Even if it was just the basics.

"I'll check," she said and started going through the kitchen cupboards. There was everything in here, so it made sense that there would be a first aid kit, too. It seemed impossible not to get hurt when you were being chased all over the country by evil aliens bent on destroying you. She finally found one and handed it to the blonde boy. "Here you go."

At that moment the bedroom door opened to reveal the older Ben. He walked over to his girlfriend and sat down beside her.

"So, any idea where we're going?" he asked Kenny as he started driving down a secluded road.

"None," the red haired boy answered.

"Press the green button so that we can talk to Kevin," the brunette teen told him, "No, not that one, that one! That one! No, the one next to it!"

"Maybe you should do it," Kenny snapped at his cousin as the two younger boys laughed and Julie tried to hide her giggles behind her hand.

"Fine," said the older Ben and walked to the front of the RV and pressed the right green button.

"Kevin?" he said impatiently.

"Yeah, what is it, Tennyson?" the osmosian's gruff voice asked.

"You guys okay?" Kenny asked.

"We're fine," the older Kevin answered, "You?"

"You got hurt protecting Gwen, as usual, but other than that, yeah," the older Ben answered, "Where are we going?"

"What road are you driving down?" Kevin asked. Ben could hear the exasperation in his friend's voice, a sure sign that Gwen was driving him insane one way or another.

"That really secluded one through the forest," the wielder of the Ultimatrix answered, "Why? Did we take a wrong turn?"

"No," Kevin told him, "Just keep driving until you see the Private Property sign. There's a path on the right. Take the one on the left. Stop when you see a large log cabin."

"Log cabin?" the older Gwen's voice sounded over the communications device. The older Kevin hung up.

"Yeah, log cabin," he told her, sighing. She had been asking about where they were going for the past 15 minutes, and he was sure if she kept it up any longer, he'd explode. But right now he was starting to worry. What if she didn't like it?

She smiled and put a hand on his arm.

"That sounds perfect," she assured him, reading the doubt in his eyes. She knew he was still worried about her having done the spell. There was no doubt in the 16-year-old girl's mind that he would lecture her about it later. He turned to smile at her.

They were already driving down the path he had mentioned. Kevin knew that any moment now they would see a large clearing up ahead. The forests were thick, but sunlight filtered down through the branches every few minutes, making Gwen's hair shine like a flame red waterfall.

He turned to smile at his red headed girlfriend.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, smiling back at him.

"No reason," he told her. At that moment they arrived at the clearing. There was a large house in the middle of it. A house that, Gwen had to admit, was probably the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Besides Grandpa Max's lake, of course.

"Whoa," she breathed. The place was huge, made entirely out of wood. There were three floors, including the attic. The front wall of the attic, at least as far as Gwen could see, was made of glass. The roof, which tilted down on both sides to form a perfect triangle, was made of logs. The first floor's walls were made of glass, too. There was a small porch with a picnic table and wooden benches around it at the front. The glass door led from there to a kitchen. The windows on the second floor were old fashioned – square with a cross on it. The house was magnificent.

Kevin chuckled.

"That's what I was hoping to hear," he said and got out of the car. A few seconds later he opened Gwen's door for her and waited for her to get out. She sat in the front seat, arms crossed on her chest.

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"I don't have any shoes," she announced, pointing at the forest floor. Kevin looked down. She was right. Small stones, pine needles, and the occasional shard of glass littered the small path from the car to the front door. Which, incidentally, happened to be on the side of the house. It would be an incredibly perilous journey for the bare-footed red head.

"Alright, hang on," Kevin said and disappeared around the side of the car. He reappeared moments later carrying a small shoe box and one of his shirts. He set the box down in the red head's lap and pulled the shirt over his head.

"Where did you get these?" she asked, opening the box and taking out a pair of white sandals.

"You left the shoes in my car after the last shopping trip you made me take you on," he explained, "And the shirt's in case the one I'm wearing gets ripped to shreds again."

"I was just asking about the shoes, but thanks for letting me know," she told him, and slipped the sandals on, "Alright, let's go."

Kevin smiled and walked over to one of the nearby trees. He hit it on the side hard. A small door slid open to reveal a small hole. Kevin pulled out a pair of keys and went back over to Gwen. He took her hand and took her to the glass door on the side of the house.

When they walked in, Gwen was amazed. The layout was pretty similar to the hotel, but it was far more beautiful. It was like she had stepped into the suite from the window, to find that the walls were made of wood, the couches and arm chair were a soft beige and made of leather, the kitchen was made of wood, too, and there was a second floor added. There was a fireplace underneath the TV, and a computer desk a few feet away from the door. Beside it there was a door and several bookshelves. On the other side of the room there was a small stage that lead to another door. Separating the kitchen from the living room was an ornate staircase that lead up to a sort of balcony that made up the hall on the second floor. There were four doors visible that obviously lead to more rooms, and, without evidence to the contrary, the red head assumed there were even more doors down the hall on both sides. Under the balcony was yet another small stage that seemed to pose no purpose whatsoever other than to look pretty. There was another door on the end of the stage.

"Like it?" Kevin asked, watching his girlfriend's face, a small smirk planted on his.

"It's beautiful," she assured him, "What is this place?"

"Dad's secret hideout," Kevin exclaimed. Gwen turned back to look at him surprised. "He used to take Mom here when they were going out. See?" He walked over to the fireplace and took down a picture of Devon and a younger version of his mom. They were both laughing. Too bad they didn't know the tragedy that awaited them.

"Oh, Kevin," Gwen breathed. She put her hand on his shoulder. The girl knew it must be hard for him to be back here. He set the photo back down on the mantle and turned around to face his girlfriend. Her irresistible green eyes were full of sympathy and love. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Their lips met in a searing kiss. Gwen's hands tightened in his hair and he pulled her closer to him, until there was no space in between them. All too soon they broke away for air, panting heavily, their foreheads resting against the other's.

"Want to see the library?" Kevin whispered, his breath hot on her face.

The 16-year-old girl's eyes widened and she drew him in for another kiss.

* * *

In the RV, everyone was pretty much bored. The younger Gwen was still asleep, so they couldn't entertain themselves by watching a fight between her and the 12-year-old, Cooper had finished with Kevin's leg, telling him to stay in bed for a few days and not play hero anymore (play hero? He was saving Gwen's life, for crying out loud!), there was no other news from the older Gwen and Kevin, and there was nothing good on TV.

"Ben?" Julie spoke up after a few minutes of agitating silence, "What was it you wanted to tell us?"

"What?" the 16-year-old asked. He had been watching a fly from corner to corner, and had barely heard it when his girlfriend spoke up.

"Back at the parking lot," Julie told him, "When Cooper interrupted you. What did you want to say?" Everyone perked up. Hearing a story about what had happened to the three teens on one of their adventures was better than sitting around with nothing to do. Plus, the older Ben jumped at any chance to embarrass the osmosian.

"Oh, that," said the older Ben, smirking as he remembered the story he had wanted to tell, "Well, as I said, Kevin hates it when Gwen does that spell. It takes too much out of her. Anyway, we were at the Forever Knights' castle, I don't remember which one, there's way too many, and the Knights were about to kick our butts. Gwen did the spell and took us back to Kevin's garage. She'd already done a heck of a lot of magic that night, plus it was like, 5 a.m., so she collapsed right on the floor, unconscious. Kevin said it was no point in us taking her home, since she'd left most of her stuff at his house, studying, and I didn't have to go to school if there was an emergency. And, yeah, teachers now take 'I have to go battle aliens' as an excuse for why you're missing class."

"Sweet!" the younger Ben cried, pumping his fist in the air. The younger Kevin rolled his eyes at the 11-year-old.

"So, we stayed at his place for the night. In the morning, Gwen's mom called Kevin's mom, worried that she hadn't come home last night, and she told her that Gwen had stayed the night. So Aunt Natalie stormed over to Kevin's place, literally dragged Gwen out of there, and she ended up grounded for a week. When her punishment was over, Gwen let me pick a way to humiliate Kevin for being such an idiot. I made him drink five smoothies in a row! It was hilarious!" The 16-year-old was laughing uncontrollably now. The others were smiling or laughing too.

"That's what you get for worrying so much," the younger Ben told the 12-year-old, who was staring daggers at the brunette.

The Rustbucket soon turned to a clearing and Kenny parked the RV next to a black and green Camaro.

"We're here," he announced.

"Great," said the older Ben as he and the others got up and stepped out of the RV, "I can't wait to see the dump Kevin picked for us to – whoa."

He stopped when he got out and saw the gigantic house in front of them. Cooper got out next, carrying a sulking Kevin in his arms. The two girls and Kenny, who was carrying the younger version of his little sister, followed.

"There is no way that this is the place," said Cooper, shaking his head at the house. He suddenly felt the younger boy stiffen in his arms. "Wait, you've been here?"

"Yeah," the raven-haired boy answered, "This place used to be Dad's. We came out here every year. When Dad died, Harvey took us. Or, he used to, before I left."

"Figures you'd take Gwen out here," said Eunice a small smile on her mouth.

"What?" the young osmosian asked, lifting his head to frown at her.

"Well, yeah," the older Ben cut in, briefly glaring at the Unitrix core, "It's secluded, impossible to find. The perfect place to hide from evil aliens."

"So," said Julie, smiling at everyone, "Are we gonna stand out here all day, or what?"

"We're not even sure if this is the place," said Kenny doubtfully, "It seems a little obvious, don't you think?"

At that moment a book was thrown through an open window on the second floor. It was followed by a shrill "Kevin!"

The older Ben bent down to pick up the book. It was labeled ALGEBRA. He smirked and waved it up for his cousin to see.

"And now we do," he stated.

Kenny shrugged.

"Hey, you can't blame me for being cautious," he said. The younger red head stirred in his arms briefly, before settling back down.

They all then stepped inside and gasped once again at the beauty of the house.

"Remind me again, why did you run away?" the younger Ben asked, looking around. He saw a bunch of video games in the corner beside the computer desk and knew he wouldn't be bored here.

"That's not important right now," said Julie hastily, "What I want to know is, where's Kevin and Gwen?"

"The book came from upstairs," Cooper reminded her.

With remarkable speed they were all up at the second floor, standing outside of a door. It was knocked down hastily to reveal the two teens. Kevin was lying across the bed with his hands behind his head while Gwen stood at the foot of the bed glaring at him. They seemed to have been arguing just before everyone else busted in.

"Oh, hey," said the older Kevin, "What took you guys so long?"

"Ken?" the older Gwen asked, her furious expression turning to surprise.

"Hey, Gwen," he said, pushing the younger Gwen into the older Ben's arms so that he could hug his sister. The algebra book fell on the ground at his feet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, letting him go, her arms still around his neck.

"Grandma Verdona sent me," Kenny explained, "What the heck are you wearing?" His eyes raked down her makeshift dress and she stepped back, a small smile on her face.

"Don't ask," she told him, "Ugh," she groaned, clutching her head.

"What's wrong?" Ken asked, looking down t her in concern.

"Just a little dizzy," the red head told him. Suddenly, the older Kevin appeared behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her back to the bed.

"I told you, you shouldn't have done that spell," he breathed, setting her down gently.

"Well, if the choice is between feeling dizzy for a few hours and not feeling anything ever again, I'll take the first choice," she snapped at him.

Kevin pursed his lips as he studied the annodyte's face.

"Don't talk like that," he told her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. No one else seemed to notice, though. Or, if they did, decided not to push it. The younger Ben was reminded of what his older self had told him back at the store when Julie had been off picking out a tennis outfit. Even though his back was turned, it wasn't hard to imagine the worry and intensity in the 17-year-old's eyes.

"Can you tell us why Kevin just threw an algebra book out the window?" Cooper suddenly asked, clearly uncomfortable.

"Studying's never been my thing," the older Kevin told him, turning back around to face everyone, "What happened to her?" He frowned at the 11-year-old in Cooper's arms.

"Transportation spell," the blonde answered, "What did she do?"

"Same," the older Kevin told him. His eyes suddenly took on a knowing and slightly crazed look as he turned to look at Gwen's brother. "Good to see you again, Ken. How's college?"

"Ah, nothing new," the red headed boy told him, shrugging nonchalantly. He knew what Kevin was planning, and was dreading the moment he'd have to face the wrath of his super-powered sister. Oh, well. Better get it over with. "Sorry about what you had to go through back at the store."

"Yeah, well, who knew that the rakari would actually find us there?" the older Kevin shot back, still smiling that sinister grin.

"I meant about shopping with Gwen," Kenny clarified.

"He deserved it," said the older Gwen, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Actually, he didn't," said Kenny, rubbing the back of his neck. He slowly started backing out of the room. The others parted to make a short path for him. "Kevin's not the one who got you drunk. It was me."

The 16-year-old red head froze, seemingly unable to understand what he had just said.

"You what?" she asked, getting off the bed and stepping towards her older brother menacingly, her dizziness forgotten for the time being.

"Well, um, yeah," said Kenny, stepping backwards until his back thudded against the opposite wall, "I knew you would've sensed my energy otherwise, and it was the only way to-"

A blast of pink manna came flying straight at his face. He gasped and ducked out of the way.

"Kenneth Tennyson, you are so dead!" the annodyte exclaimed, her hands alive with pink manna as she started chasing her cousin through the house.

Everyone stared after them for a few seconds before turning to look at the older Kevin. He was leaning against the doorframe and smirking.

"You gotta love that girl," he said, shaking his head in amusement.

A/N: Alright, so I don't think this is some of my best work, but I just loved the idea. What do you think?


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously:_

"You what?" she asked, stepping forward menacingly.

"Well, um, yeah," said Kenny, stepping backwards until his back thudded against the opposite wall, "I knew you would've sensed my energy otherwise, and it was the only way to-"

A blast of pink manna came flying straight at his face. He gasped and ducked out of the way.

"Kenneth Tennyson, you are so dead!" the annodyte exclaimed, her hands alive with pink manna as she started chasing her brother through the house.

Everyone stared after them for a few seconds before turning to look at the older Kevin. He was leaning against the doorframe and smirking.

"You gotta love that girl," he said, shaking his head in amusement.

* * *

The younger Gwen suddenly stirred in her cousin's arms.

"Ugh," she groaned, "What happened?"

"You got us out of there and passed out," the older Ben announced, setting her down on the ground. He lifted up the algebra book and handed it to the older Kevin, who set it down on the vanity table. The room had probably belonged to a woman. Maybe Kevin's mother…

"Gwen!" Ken shouted downstairs, "I'm sorry!"

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place!" the older red head yelled back.

"What's going on?" the younger her asked.

"Turns out Kenny got you drunk," the younger Ben announced, "And Kevin took the blame cuz he knew you'd take us shopping and Ken needed us out of the hotel because of the rakari."

"Wait," she said, her small hands tightening into fists, "_Ken_ got _me_ drunk?"

"Kinda," said Julie, shrugging at the younger version of her friend. She was a little scared of her at this point and not in the least because she knew what the little red haired girl was able to do five years into the future. She was just as terrifying back then as she was now.

"He is so dead," the little red haired girl snapped.

"Easy there," the older Ben laughed, "You're gonna take care of him in the future, so what's the point now?"

"Besides," said Cooper, "you still need to rest after that spell."

"I'm fine," she told him, shaking her head.

The teens exchanged looks at the girl's stubbornness.

"So, Kevin, why were you two studying algebra?" the older Ben asked, turning his attention back to his friend.

"Gwen wants me to go back to high school," the older osmosian told him, shrugging his shoulders.

"Let me guess," said the younger Kevin, rolling his eyes, "She threatened to destroy my car if I didn't."

"No," the older Kevin told him, smiling at the ground as he remembered the day.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty rare that she has to threaten him to get him to do anything," the older Ben added.

The younger Gwen smirked up at the 12-year-old. He glared back down at her.

"Hey, Kev," said Cooper, "Is there someplace I can leave him? He needs to rest." He pointed with his chin at the 12-year-old in his arms. The boy's frown deepened. The two younger cousins giggled.

"Sure," the older Kevin answered, "Any room up here. They're all bedrooms."

"Great," said Cooper and took the younger Kevin to the room across the hall.

"What is this place?" the younger Gwen asked, looking around for the first time.

"It's Kevin's dad's house," Julie told her.

The girl turned her attention back to the teen.

"Your step dad's or your real dad's?" she asked.

"Duh," said the younger Ben, rolling his eyes, "His real dad's. If it was his stepfather's house, do you really think he would've taken us here?"

"He has a point," Eunice said shyly.

Suddenly they heard a crash from downstairs. Cooper reappeared out of the bedroom in a flash.

"What was that?" he asked cautiously. The older Ben and Kevin exchanged looks before running down the stairs. The others followed them.

They saw the older Gwen standing behind the armchair across the room, her hands on her mouth in horror, while Ken was crouched by the fireplace, looking down at something on the floor.

A picture frame.

"Kevin-" the older Gwen started, as her boyfriend ran over and leaned down beside the red head's older brother.

"Did you do it?" the raven haired teen snapped, lifting his eyes from the fallen photograph to glare at him.

"I - it wasn't – I mean-" Ken stuttered under the osmosian's piercing eyes.

"It was my fault, Kevin," the older Gwen told him, coming over and placing a comforting, yet slightly restraining hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry. I threw the energy, and he ducked out of the way, and-"

"Don't bother," the dark teen interrupted, standing up and turning to face her. He could read the apologies and guilt in her emerald green eyes. Of course, Gwen was always sorry when something like this happened. Even if it wasn't her fault. The dark teen lightly stroked her cheek, wiping away imaginary tears and forced a small smile on his face. "It's just a photo."

The older red head sighed.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. His almost black eyes stared back at her lovingly, letting her know that she was forgiven.

His smile turned into a smirk and his eyes ran over her seemingly fragile frame.

"What?" she snapped suddenly, hands on her hips. Her previously gentle and apologetic façade turned back into her kick-ass girlfriend one.

His smirk widened. The older annodyte frowned and looked down at herself. She quickly saw the reason for the 17-year-old's smirk – she was still wearing his shirt. The sight of her running through the house must've been comical. She looked back up and glared at the osmosian.

"Didn't you say you had something I could change into?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Sure," he told her. The 16-year-old girl smiled. "Come on."

She followed him up the stairs and back to the bedroom they had been in just moments ago. Everyone else made themselves comfortable in the living room.

"You broke it, didn't you?" the older Ben asked his cousin, once the older Gwen and Kevin were safely upstairs. He sat down on one of the couches along with Julie and Eunice. Cooper sat on the armrest next to the blonde. Ken sat on the couch across from them, the younger Gwen sat down in the armchair and her cousin on the armrest.

"Yeah," Ken answered, "I owe her one."

"'One'?" the young red haired girl exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat, "He would've killed you!"

"She's got a point," Julie told him, "Gwen's the only one of us with immunity when it comes to Kevin's wrath."

"Not to mention you," Eunice added, leaning over so that she could smile at the Japanese girl, "You're her best friend. That's probably the only reason he didn't kill you when you crashed Ben's car."

"She's right," said the younger Ben, "Kevin was pretty mad when he saw the car, but then-"

"Gwen told him not to blame Julie, and he told her that he blamed me for it," the older Ben finished for him.

"Wow," said the younger Gwen, "I can't believe it's that predictable."

At that moment the 17-year-old stepped down into the living room and took a seat on the couch where Ken was sitting.

"Gwen kick you out?" Cooper asked, making the older Ben and Ken shudder.

The older teen smirked, seeing their reactions. His eyes landed on the younger Gwen. The 11-year-old girl shook her head, trying to get rid of the remaining dizziness from the spell she had cast earlier.

"You need some rest," he told her, that overly caring expression that was only ever present when Gwen was around on his pale face.

"I'm fine," she snapped at him.

"He's right," a voice floated down from upstairs, "That spell tires me out enough now. I can't imagine what it's like back then."

Everyone turned their heads to see the older Gwen at the top of the stairs, a worried expression on her face. She was wearing an old fashioned V-necked, knee-length, sleeveless red dress. It was buttoned with five medium-sized red buttons down the middle almost like it was a coat. The older Kevin and Cooper's mouths dropped open in shock. The older girl smiled at their expressions and walked back downstairs.

"Gwen, you look beautiful," Cooper breathed.

The older Gwen smiled as she settled down next to Kevin.

"Thanks Cooper," she said. Her smile faded when her boyfriend didn't say anything. His attention seemed drawn to something on the far wall.

"Ahem," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. He finally came back to the real world, like he had been in a trance.

"Oh, sorry," he said, his eyes running up and down her figure once more, "Not bad," he stated, a smirk plastering itself on his face. The osmosian leaned back in his chair, waiting for what the girl would say next.

She only glared at him.

"Care to be more specific?" she asked, trying to keep from bashing the teen's head in. She knew he knew he was infuriating her, and it was infuriating her even more.

His smirk turned into a genuine smile and he leaned forward so that he could whisper in the girl's ear, "You don't know how much I would love to be more specific, but right now, the things that are going through my mind are illegal for children below 13 to hear." He leaned back, that smirk on his pale face again. The older girl was wearing a slightly horrified look on her face.

"Gwen?" Cooper said cautiously, "Are you okay?"

She shook her flame red curls and turned to glare at her boyfriend, completely ignoring Cooper.

"You're unbelievable. You know that, right?" she told him. Her voice sounded like she was tired after a long day of hard work.

Kevin chuckled.

"And you're too stubborn to admit you need to get some rest after that damn spell," he told her, pointing with his thumb at the 11-year-old girl.

"What is with you people?" the younger red head snapped, "I'm fine!"

"Kevin and Cooper are right," said Ken gently, "You should get some more sleep."

"Yeah," the older Ben agreed, "You look like you're about to pass out from exhaustion."

The girl sighed in exasperation.

"If I go upstairs, will you guys please stop bugging me?" she snapped.

Kevin opened his mouth to interject, but Cooper beat him to it.

"Hey, that's all we ask," he told her, lifting his hands up in an _I surrender_ sort of way.

She sighed again, got up, and went upstairs.

"But I never said I was gonna go to bed," she whispered to herself once she had turned around the corner on the second floor. The younger red head opened the door to the room where Cooper had put the younger Kevin slowly, afraid to disturb him. Lucky for her he wasn't asleep.

"Hey, Gwen," he greeted her. He was lying on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head, gazing at the ceiling. He didn't even look up when he heard the door opening.

"How'd you know it was me?" she immediately asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. She was frowning as she sat down on the end of the 12-year-old's bed.

"Because I almost didn't hear you coming," he answered, supporting himself on his elbows as he looked at her.

"Huh?" she asked, her frown deepening.

Kevin smirked.

"Next time someone starts walking, listen. Then compare it to someone else's footsteps," he told her.

"How do you know this stuff?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

Kevin smirked wider.

"Aw," he said, "Does the perfect little know-it-all want to learn how to be bad?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Then why do you want to know?" he asked, sitting up and wincing slightly at the pain in his leg. Gwen noticed this.

"Does your leg still hurt?" she asked, motioning with her head to his injured leg. _What a stupid question!_ Some small voice inside her head snapped at her. She mentally slapped herself.

"I got hit with a bullet from a gun from who knows what planet about an hour ago," he said, rolling his eyes at her, "Of course it hurts."

"Oh," she said shyly, moving her hair behind her ear, "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

"Sure thing," he said. They were avoiding each other's eyes now.

She finally looked up and glared at him.

"What?" the younger boy asked, looking at her, surprised at the glare.

"Aren't you gonna thank me for saving your life?" she asked like it should've been obvious.

"I don't do that," he told her, smirking again.

"I thought you changed," the younger Gwen snapped at him accusingly.

"That's in five years, genius," the osmosian told her, rolling his eyes again.

"Ugh!" she cried and shot up from the bed, "You are so infuriating!"

"Hey, you're the one who came to me!" he reminded her, on the defensive now.

"This time," she hissed, her eyes narrowing, hands on her hips.

"Hey, I only did that because I was bored," he told her, "Why are you here?"

"Because-" she hesitated. Why was she here? Because the teenagers had insisted that she needed more sleep. They had made her come up here. But did it really count when you actually offered to go upstairs? No, she was pretty sure it didn't. But then, why?

"Hello? Gwen?" Kevin said, waving his hand in front of her face, "You still in there?"

She shook her head. The after effects of the spell combined with her own confusion were making her dizzy again.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice becoming unnaturally worried.

"I'm fine," she promised. The room was starting to spin. The girl sat back down on the bed.

"You sure?" Kevin asked. His hand was on her shoulder now. His leg was in extreme pain, but he didn't even notice it. He was too focused on the younger girl on his bed.

"Just give me a minute," she snapped, squeezing her eyes shut, "Leave me alone!" Gwen tried to get off the bed only to have Kevin's strong arms clutch her shoulders, forcing her to stay seated.

"Not a chance," he told her, gently easing her back down on the bed until she was lying down beside him. "Why are you here?" His voice was caring, gentle.

"Because you and Cooper were worried about me," she snapped, trying to break free from the boy. She had been hoping the answer would get some kind of reaction from him, but he was just as worried about her as everyone downstairs – too worried.

"And for a good reason, too," he told her, "You need some sleep."

"I'm fine!" she exclaimed for the thousandth time in the past hour.

"No, you're not," Kevin told her. He was the only one who had outright argued with her. It surprised the 11-year-old girl. "Why can't you just admit that?"

"Because admitting it would mean that I'm weak, and that is _not_ true!" she snapped.

"Look," he started, "I don't think there's anyone in the galaxy that thinks you're weak. But sometimes you just gotta let someone else take care of you. Even you aren't immune to exhaustion."

His words sounded so much like Julie's that the girl stopped struggling and stared at him with wide eyes. He was frowning at her. Maybe she was too tired to put up any more of a fight. Then something occurred to her. A smirk crossed her face.

"What?" he asked for the second time during her brief visit.

"I can't believe you of all people are lecturing me about being weak. You've never admitted defeat. Even when Ben had you cornered," the younger red head reminded him.

"Yeah," he said, a small smirk on his mouth, "but you're not me, are you?"

"Thank God for that," she said, rolling her eyes.

He laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. But you still need some sleep," he stated. It didn't strike him until that moment that his arms were around the younger girl. He didn't move them, though. _Just in case she tries to fight her exhaustion again,_ he told himself, "So either you lie down right now, or am I gonna have to force you?"

The younger Gwen studied his face for a sign that he was lying. There was none. The girl didn't doubt that, even with an injured leg, he could easily overpower her in a fight. Plus, whether she wanted to admit it or not, he was right – she was exhausted.

"Fine," she finally snapped, closing her eyes. The 12-year-old relaxed his hold on her.

"By the way, you can let me go now," she added, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, right," he said, letting go of her and moving to the other side of the bed.

* * *

Back downstairs, just as the younger girl had disappeared around the corner, Kevin glared at Cooper.

"What?" the blonde teen asked, looking alarmed at the older boy's sudden hostility.

"Dude, have you met Gwen Tennyson?" he snapped. It was almost like the girl wasn't even there.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gwen Tennyson snapped at her boyfriend.

"It means, Cooper just gave you the biggest loophole in the history of loopholes," Ken told her, shaking his head at the boy's stupidity.

"What loophole?" Cooper asked. He was seriously confused by everything. "Didn't you guys want her to go upstairs?"

"Cooper," said Julie slowly, "We wanted her to go upstairs so that she could _sleep_. Not just for her to be on another floor!"

"Come on guys," said Eunice gently, trying to get them all to ease up Cooper, "This is an 11-year-old Gwen we're talking about. Do you really think she's gonna do anything, well, bad?"

"You know, she has a point," said the younger Ben, "I mean, what is she gonna do, anyway? We're in a cabin in the woods. It's not like she's gonna jump through a window or anything."

"Maybe," said the older Ben a little reluctantly, "But while we have to remember that it's Gwen we're dealing with, we also have to remember that it's _Gwen_ that we're dealing with."

"Again," said the older Gwen, sitting back on the leather couch and crossing her arms on her chest and glaring across the coffee table at her cousin, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're devious," the osmosian told her, sighing as he turned to face her. A small smile crossed his face. "Even as a little kid."

"Oh," said Gwen, a small smile appearing on her face as well.

"Look," said Ken, "Gwen's my little sister and I say that until we actually hear any sign that she's gonna do something stupid, we trust her."

"Thank you, Ken," said Gwen, smiling at her older brother, "But that's not gonna make me soften your punishment." There was a devilish grin on her face.

Ken pretended to be astonished.

"Gwen! I wouldn't dream of it!" he cried, putting a hand over his heart.

"Dude," the older Ben laughed, "Have you been hanging out with Kevin or something?"

"Of course not," said Gwen, rolling her green eyes. An awful thought suddenly crossed her mind. She turned to her obsidian-eyed boyfriend.

"You haven't, have you?" she asked, just as alarmed as Cooper had been a moment ago.

Kevin scoffed.

"You mean other than the speech that he gave me right after we first met? No," he told her, rolling his eyes.

"Ken!" she exclaimed, "You didn't!"

"Well, what did you expect me to do?" Ken snapped at his sister, "I'm your older brother. It's my job."

"You are so dead," the annodyte hissed.

"Hey," said the younger Ben suddenly, "Instead of thinking of ways to kill Kenny, you should be thinking of ways to make it up to us for making us take you shopping! I, for one, didn't do anything to deserve that kind of torture!"

"Actually, yes you did," said Eunice.

"What?" asked the younger Ben, frowning at the beautiful blonde.

"Well, for starters, you almost cheated on your girlfriend with me," she told him.

"Ugh, haven't we settled this?" groaned the older Ben.

"He's right, Eunice," Julie said gently, "Ben knows what he did wrong. He already apologized." She smiled a slightly smug smile.

"Really?" Kevin asked, an evil smile appearing on his pale face.

"Yeah, dude, really," said the older Ben in a way that clearly said Kevin should drop it or else he was gonna wake up the next morning in a ditch somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey, just asking," Kevin told him, holding up his hands, the smile never leaving his face.

"Well, don't," the brunette teen snapped at him.

Kevin shook his head in amusement.

"Alright, Tennyson," he said, "Don't be such a girl."

"Yeah," said the younger Ben sarcastically, crossing his arms on his chest, "This coming from the guy who got tricked into asking my cousin to prom."

The 17-year-old glared daggers at the older Ben, his fists clenching tightly.

"Kevin," said Gwen cautiously.

Everyone else was staring at the two teens with wide and curious eyes, waiting to find out what was gonna happen next.

The osmosian's murderous expression quickly changed to one of pure indifference.

"Don't worry, Gwen," he told his girlfriend, "I won't do anything stupid. Like the time Benji split himself into three so he could watch that Sumo Slammers' movie during Julie's tennis match. By the way, I was wrong. You were way more of a girl that day than today. My apologies." The evil smile was back.

Julie held back a giggle. She was dying to know what he was talking about, but didn't dare ask. At least not at the moment.

"Oh, no problem, dude," said the older Ben, a similar expression appearing on his face, "At least I didn't say some really sentimental stuff about my best friend's cousin while she was trapped in a block of ice. Hmm. As long as we're sharing past experiences, maybe I oughtta tell her what you said."

Kevin's eyes widened and his expression turned back to hostile.

"You wouldn't dare," he hissed, his hands clenching into fists.

"What did he say?" Gwen asked her cousin, her curiosity getting the best of her.

There was a moment of silence. No one dared to even breathe. Finally the older Ben took a deep breath and started talking.

"When you got separated from us at the Perplexahedron, Kevin was really worried. I told him that you could take care of yourself, and he said that he knew that. It was one of the reasons he liked you. But it didn't change the fact that he wanted to take care of you." A punch was suddenly thrown at the brunette's head almost before the sentence was out. He ducked out of the way just in time and flew to the kitchen door, Kevin hot on his heels.

"You're a dead man, Tennyson!" the osmosian shouted as he chased him outside.

With the two boys out of the room, everyone turned back to the red head. She was sitting on the couch, her legs tucked under herself, staring at the coffee table. There was a goofy smile on her face.

"Gwen?" asked Ken, turning to look at his younger sister, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said, finally looking up, "I am."

"I can't believe he said that," Julie said, smiling.

"Me either," Cooper agreed, "I just can't see Kevin as the sentimental kind of guy. Not even with you, Gwen."

"Wait," said the younger Ben, "You guys actually believe that?"

"Well, yeah," said Eunice, "You don't?"

"No!" the 11-year-old cried, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Kevin wouldn't be trying to kill you right now if it wasn't true," Cooper told him.

"He's been trying to kill me since the day we met!" the boy cried.

"Ben, be quiet," Julie told him sternly.

"Who are you? My mom?" the younger boy scoffed.

At that moment the older Kevin reappeared in the doorway.

"Hey," said Ken, turning back to look at the osmosian, "Where's Ben?"

"Ben had a little…accident," said Kevin sinisterly. He sat down beside Gwen again.

"It's just as well," Julie huffed, and crossed her arms on her chest.

"He'd be in a hell of a lot more trouble if he actually did show up," Eunice added, placing a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders.

"What did he do?" the 17-year-old asked her, pointing his chin in the general direction of the 11-year-old boy.

"Me? Why do you think I did anything?" the younger Ben snapped.

"Because whenever Julie's mad or upset, you always have something to do with it," Kevin told him. The younger boy opened his mouth to argue, but Eunice cut him off.

"He said, 'Who are you? My mom?'" she said gently.

Kevin sighed in exasperation.

"Dude, you have so much to learn," he stated.

"Kevin?" Gwen suddenly spoke up.

"Yeah?" he said, turning half-way around to face her wearily. Now that she had found out about what he had said back at the Perplexahedron, the teen was wary of his girlfriend.

"Can I talk to you upstairs in private?" she asked, gently taking his hand.

"Sure," Kevin said and followed her patiently up the stairs.

Once they were gone the younger Ben slumped back against the armchair. Everyone glared at him.

"What?" he asked. That seemed to be the word of the evening.

"You called your future girlfriend 'Mom'," Kenny told him.

"Oh, come on! You can't tell me she doesn't annoy you, too!" the boy snapped.

"She doesn't," said Cooper definitely.

"Seriously?" the boy asked, frowning.

"Yes, seriously," said Eunice.

Kenny narrowed his eyes at his little cousin.

"Eunice, you and Julie go make dinner. We need to talk to Ben," said Ken.

"We do?" Cooper asked, frowning at Gwen's older brother.

Ken glared at him.

"Yes, we do," he stated. The girls got up and went to the kitchen.

"Alright, Ben, what's up with you?" he asked, leaning forward so that he was facing his cousin.

"Nothing," the younger Ben snapped, crossing his arms on his chest defensively and glaring at the other wall, the stairs on the second floor, and, well, anywhere else except for the two teens.

"Yes, there is," Cooper told him, moving over to the other end of the couch so he could talk to the 11-year-old, "You're not looking at us. What's wrong?"

"Since when are you an expert on when people are lying?" the younger Ben snapped at his future friend.

"Since I met Kevin Levin," Cooper shot back. The younger boy's eyes widened. He wanted to press the matter, but something in Cooper's cerulean blue eyes told him he shouldn't. It was probably the first time in his life that he actually took a hint.

"Really, Ben," said Ken gently. He was using that soft, smooth, caring tone that Gwen used on little kids when she saw them crying in the park and asked them what was wrong. "What's going on?"

The bearer of the Omnitrix sighed and slumped back against the armchair.

"Well, back at the mall, the older me did apologize to Julie, but when I asked him what that was about, he said that it was what Kevin did to avoid getting killed by Gwen. Just apologizing. And, well, that got me thinking that there's too much changing in the future. I take Kevin Levin's advice, and I'm dating this girl who I haven't even met! It's just all too weird," the younger Ben told them, "Not to mention that, apparently, when she says 'Jump' he says, 'How high?'"

Ken smiled at his younger cousin sympathetically.

"You're still crushing on Kai, aren't you?" he asked.

"What?" the boy exclaimed, "No, I'm not!"

"Who's Kai?" Cooper asked, turning from the younger boy to the older one.

"She's this girl who Ben had a crush on five years ago. I remember he only got over her when he was twelve. That was when Julie transferred schools," Kenny explained.

"Wait, what?" the younger Ben exclaimed.

"Well, at least that's what Gwen said," Kenny added, smiling sheepishly. Cooper laughed.

"You know, you two are no better than Kevin!" he snapped and went to the corner to grab a video game.

"Hey, guys?" Julie called from the kitchen, "We're not having dinner tonight."

"What?" the younger Ben exclaimed.

"Why not?" Kenny asked her.

"Because all I could find in here were oysters," Eunice answered, her blonde hair appearing from behind the open fridge door.

"Well, why can't we eat those?" Kenny asked.

The younger Ben shuddered. He remembered all the weird stuff Grandpa Max had made them eat on their trip last summer. The boy didn't want to go anywhere near anything that had to do with gross, probably inedible slimy animals or bugs.

"Eunice is a vegetarian," Cooper announced, "I think there's still some stuff in the Rustbucket, though," he added hopefully. No one wanted to go to bed on an empty stomach.

"Thanks," said Eunice, "I'll go check."

And with that she disappeared through the glass door. A few moments later the door opened again to reveal a soggy, beat up 16-year-old Ben.

"Whoa," said the younger Ben, "What happened to you?"

"Kevin," the teen spit out, "That's what happened."

Suddenly, Julie walked over to him and slapped him.

"Ow!" he cried, "What was that for?"

"For calling me 'Mom'," Julie told him. Her arms were crossed on her chest and she was glaring defiantly at her boyfriend.

"Oh my God!" the older Ben cried, "I did what?"

"You called her mom," Cooper told him, staring intently at the videogame.

"Thank you, Cooper," Julie hissed.

"Julie, I'm so sorry," he breathed, "That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Probably?" the girl scoffed.

"Definitely," the older Ben corrected himself, "I'm so sorry."

Julie was still glaring at him.

"Benjamin Tennyson," she hissed, "You are the biggest jerk on the planet."

"I know, Julie," he told her, "And I'm really, really sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"You promise to come to every tennis match I have?" she asked, "No matter what Sumo Slammers thing might be going on?"

"I wouldn't miss it even if the world was about to be blown up," Ben promised her.

"And no more splitting yourself into three?"

"Of course. That was way too embarrassing, anyway," Ben told her, "You wouldn't believe the stuff I said to Kevin."

A small smile crossed Julie's mouth.

"And you're gonna have to tell me that, too," she stated. That was the icing on the cake.

"Julie!" Ben cried.

"Do you want me to forgive you?" she snapped, back to the furious Julie that terrified Ben more than anything.

"Alright, alright," said the older Ben, holding up his hands in surrender, "Well, it happened like this-"

"No Ben," said Julie, holding up her hand to stop him, "Actually, you're not gonna be the one telling the story. Kevin is."

"Oh come on!" Ben cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

"And, you're also gonna have to help me and Eunice with dinner," Julie added.

The older Ben glared at his younger self.

"Do you see what happens when you mess with Julie?" he snapped.

"You know, now that you mention it," said the younger Ben, turning away from the TV screen, "She's not that bad." He turned back to the Japanese girl, "If she wanted to, I bet she could even trick Kevin."

Julie smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said, smiling gently, "And, no I couldn't. When it comes to pranks, Kevin's the master there."

"That is true," said the older Ben, "By the way, where's Eunice?"

"She went outside to get some food from the Rustbucket," Kenny told him.

"Isn't there any food here?" the older Ben asked.

"Just oysters," said Julie helplessly.

"Why would Kevin's dad keep oysters here?" he asked her.

"Beats me," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

* * *

When the older Kevin and Gwen were upstairs back in Kevin's mom's room, Gwen turned to look at her boyfriend.

"So, you probably think I'm some idiot, now, don't you?" Kevin asked her, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"No, Kevin, I don't," she said gently, taking his hand and pulling him down on the large, fluffy bed, "I think that was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. Only, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to think I'm some sensitive, sincere moron. That's Ben," he reminded her.

She gently put her hand on his cheek.

"Ben is never that sweet," she said and leaned forward to capture his lips in a searing kiss. He kissed her back furiously, like he was afraid they would run out of time to spend together. His hands moved to her hips, gently lowering her down on the bed until he was straddling her. He pulled away for air and looked down at the beautiful girl below him. Her hair was tangled and sprawled out around her face. She was panting heavily and looked flushed. Her perfect emerald eyes were gazing at him with the most loving, tender expression he had ever seen on anyone's face. She was the most beautiful, perfect girl in the entire universe. He didn't deserve her, and he knew it. Better make the best of it before he realized that as well.

Gwen, unknown to Kevin was studying him as well. Her fingers were tangled in his ebony black hair, which hung in his black eyes. He was holding himself above her so that he didn't crush her. _He's perfect_ she thought, bringing his face closer to hers once again. Her fingers trailed their way down to the hem of his shirt and tugged at it absentmindedly, trying to get it out of the way. He pulled away again, much to her chagrin, and pulled it off. She moaned as he kissed her again, every inch of his warm, human flesh pressing into her fragile, breakable body. His kisses were feverish. They could've been making out for seconds, minutes, hours, or even days. Time seemed to lose all meaning to them.

Finally Gwen pulled away.

"Stop," she breathed. Kevin did as she said and got off her. He found his shirt in the corner of the room and pulled it on. The osmosian turned back to smile at his girlfriend before placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe I oughtta tell Ben overly sincere confessions more often," he breathed, his oh-so-tempting mouth only an inch away from hers. Gwen smiled her signature sly smile and told him, "Next time, tell it to my face. That way you'll save Ben the trouble of getting another beating."

"But Gwen," Kevin said, his voice turning from husky to whiny, "that's the second most fun part!"

The girl laughed and got out of bed.

"I'm gonna go check on the younger you," she announced, "That bullet probably still hurts a lot."

Kevin grabbed her waist and pulled her back into him before she reached the door.

"Don't be too long," he whispered in her ear. The girl shuddered.

"Okay," she choked out, hating that he had this kind of effect on her.

Kevin chuckled as she walked out of the room and quietly opened the door across the hall.

The 16-year-old girl was being as quiet as possible. She carefully opened the door, thankful that Kevin's dad had hated squeaky hinges, and stuck her head in. She almost gasped when she saw her younger self lying on the bed sleeping soundly with her future boyfriend. The teen smiled and closed the door just as silently as she had opened it. The annodyte opened the door across the hall again and smiled even wider when she saw her obsidian-eyed boyfriend lying on the bed, waiting for her patiently.

He picked up on her mood immediately and sat up, cocking his head inquiringly.

"You are not gonna believe this," she stated and motioned for him to come out of the room.

The osmosian frowned but followed her outside and across the hall again. The girl quietly opened the door and led him inside silently. The 17-year-old chuckled when he saw the two sleeping figures. The 12-year-old had an arm thrown around her protectively, just like he would if she would have fallen asleep beside him five years into the future. The girl was curled up on her side into a little ball, facing away from him.

The older Kevin leaned down and carefully took the younger Kevin's arm off the younger girl.

"What are you doing?" the older Gwen hissed at him.

"Putting you to sleep in another bed," he hissed back, "Don't you think your cousin's gonna make your life a living nightmare if he finds out?"

"Alright, you have a point," the girl agreed, watching as the osmosian lifted the younger her from the bed. The 11-year-old girl didn't even stir as he carried her to the room next door. As soon as their 'mission' was completed, the two teens heard a loud voice downstairs yelling:

"Kevin! Gwen! Dinner!" Eunice shouted.

The two teens exchanged looks and ran downstairs. Neither one was really hungry, but it was the polite thing to do, after all.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys! You really are the best! As usual, R&R! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! =)


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews you guys! You're the best! I never would've been able to do such a great job on this story if it wasn't for you. You're my inspiration.**

**Anyway, Marin Barnard, that sounds like a great idea! Give me your email address so that I know how to contact you. Mine's on my profile.**

* * *

The older Gwen and Kevin ran downstairs for dinner impatiently. Everyone was starving. The others were already seated around the coffee table, balancing plates on their laps. There were French fries, chicken nuggets, ketchup, and lemonade set on the coffee table. Everyone was sitting in the same seats as they had before, except for the younger Ben. He was still absorbed in his video game. Cooper was sitting in his arm chair.

"Hey, Tennyson," Kevin said to the older Ben, as he and Gwen sat down on the couch they had occupied previously, "You made it back!"

"Yeah, I did," the older Ben told him, narrowing his eyes at his friend, "I can't believe you left me dangling from a tree branch over a river!"

"Really?" asked the older Gwen, her eyes widening in surprise, "Considering that it was Kevin, that's pretty tame."

"The branch was about to break and there were hungry alligators in the river," Ben told her.

"Um, Ben?" said Julie cautiously, "Alligators don't live here."

"What?" the shocked brunette asked, turning to his girlfriend, "But then what were those huge green things swimming there?"

Kevin was full-on laughing at that point.

"Those were frogs, Benji!" he cried, almost falling off the couch.

"What?" the younger Ben asked suddenly, spinning around in his seat so that he could look at everyone else. He had thought the teen was talking to him.

"You're scared of frogs in the future," the older Gwen explained, shaking her head, "And now that we have your attention, turn off the game and eat dinner like a normal person."

The 11-year-old boy cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well, semi-normal," she corrected herself.

"No way," the boy stated stubbornly, "When am I gonna get the chance to play video games, while eating French fries and chicken nuggets for dinner again?"

"As far as I know, never," the older Ben agreed.

The older annodyte sighed and shot a pink energy beam from her hand. It grabbed the younger Ben's controller and took it away from him, holding it up just out of the younger boy's reach.

"Hey!" the younger boy shouted, chasing the controller as the annodyte made it fly all over the room. It ended up in her lap, with the 11-year-old on the other side of the room, glaring at her impatiently.

"Just do what she says and come eat," said Kenny exasperatedly. He pushed his food around his plate, too anxious to take a bite. He was worried over what his evil little sister had planned for him. Anyone who knew Gwen Tennyson knew that she didn't hold back when it came to revenge. When Kevin, her own boyfriend, had accidentally gotten her in trouble, she stood by and watched while her cousin tortured him with smoothies. The red haired boy had good reason to be scared.

"Fine," the younger Ben growled. He went over to the table and sat down on the arm of the couch beside Kenny stubbornly. As soon as he popped one fry in his mouth, though, his whole mood changed.

"Where'd you find these?" Kevin asked Eunice as everyone ate the delicious food, "I'm pretty sure there were no French fries here."

"There weren't," Eunice told him, "I got these from the Rustbucket."

"Yeah," Cooper added, "All they could find in your fridge were oysters." Everyone fixed the osmosian with curious eyes, all asking the same question: Why the heck were there oysters in the fridge?

Gwen came to his rescue.

"Aren't oysters an aphrodisiac?" she asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Afro-what?" the younger Ben asked, his mouth full of fries.

"Trust me, kid, you don't want to know," said the older Kevin, shuddering, "I don't even want to think about why there'd be one in my fridge."

Gwen giggled.

"Although," he added, a mischievous smile on his lips as he turned to the red head, "Couldn't hurt to try, could it?"

"Ugh," said Kenny, shuddering at the two teens, "I think I'm going to bed, too." He put down his plate and started heading up the stairs. "By the way, thanks for dinner, Eunice."

"Not in a million years, Kevin," the older Gwen told him, rolling her eyes. She hadn't even noticed that her brother had gone.

"Of course not," he stated, sitting back and rolling his eyes, too, "I was thinking tomorrow. Eunice?"

"Well, I guess I could try it…" the blonde trailed off. She caught Gwen's eye. The look clearly read, _Don't even think about it_.

"Uh oh," said the older Ben, "The dreaded choice – get killed by Kevin or Gwen. It was nice knowing you, Eunice." Julie hit his shoulder. "Ow!"

Eunice's eyes widened in terror. Cooper put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry, they won't kill you," he said, a small smile on his face. Eunice smiled back gently. "Just forget about the oysters and let Gwen deal with Kevin."

Eunice nodded and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Alright," she said.

Across the table Gwen smiled a grateful smile at Cooper, which he returned shyly. Kevin was shaking his head in amusement. Cooper was finally learning.

"You guys are unbelievable," said Julie suddenly, "Kevin, there are three kids here, for crying out loud!"

"She's right," said the older Ben, stuffing his mouth with food.

Everyone turned to the younger Ben.

"Hey, don't look at me," he said, lifting his greasy hands up in surrender, "I don't even know what you're talking about. In fact I'm surprised he does." He pointed an accusing finger at the 17-year-old.

"Kevin's been hanging out with Gwen a lot," the older Ben told him, "Being a walking dictionary is practically a requirement."

Julie hit him again.

"Ow!" he cried again.

The older Kevin laughed.

"The all-powerful bearer of the Ultimatrix is getting beat up by his human girlfriend," he said, "Priceless."

The older Ben glared at his friend.

"Aren't you the one who gets beat up by my cousin every day?" he asked.

The older Kevin's eyes narrowed.

"She's an annodyte, Ben," he reminded him, "Not to mention, she scares you, too."

"No, she doesn't!" the younger Ben exclaimed.

"Not yet," Kenny told him, a small smile on his face, "Just wait a few months. By that time she'll be able to scare everyone."

"She doesn't scare me," Cooper suddenly spoke up.

"That's because you've never seen her look at you like she's gonna kill you," the older Ben told him.

"Ahem," said the older Gwen, "I'm still right here."

Everyone froze, terrified of the red head's reaction. They really had forgotten about her presence. She merely sighed and put her plate down, curling up on the couch next to her boyfriend.

"Ben, as soon as you're done with dinner, time for bed. It's late," she said.

"But Gwen!" the older Ben whined.

"Not you, Ben," she said, rolling her eyes, "The 11-year-old."

"Oh, alright," he said, smiling a content smile.

"But that's not fair!" the younger Ben cried, putting his plate down and crossing his arms on his chest, pouting.

The older red head sighed again.

"Kevin," she said.

"On it," the osmosian said, getting up and walking over to the 11-year-old boy. He lifted him up over his shoulder effortlessly.

"This isn't fair!" he cried again, pounding on Kevin's back. The only thing that he was gonna get out of that would be a beating five years from now, the osmosian decided.

He dumped the squirming boy in a bed next door to his cousin.

"Sweet dreams," he huffed, "PJs are in the closet."

The younger Ben watched the 17-year-old leave the room, glaring at him the whole time. As soon as he left, the younger Ben slowly and cautiously opened the door and went to the room next door. He saw his cousin curled up in a tight ball, clutching the covers.

"Gwen!" he whisper-screamed.

No answer.

"Gwen!" he tried again.

No answer.

"GWEN!" he yelled.

The girl rolled over in bed, her emerald eyes still closed.

"Kevin…" she breathed.

The boy froze, waiting to see if she was awake and trying not to be so freaked out that his cousin was saying his arch enemy's name in her sleep. She wasn't.

He sighed and shut the door quietly. The 11-year-old boy made his way next door to the 12-year-old Kevin's room. Talking to his arch enemy was definitely a last resort, but he was desperate.

"Kevin," he breathed. The boy's obsidian eyes snapped open. Quick as lightening, he had the boy pinned to his door, never mind his injured leg.

"Dude! Chill!" the younger Ben struggled, "It's just me!"

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, letting Ben go and limping back to his bed, "Are you Tennysons planning some kind of sleepover in my room?"

"What?" Ben whispered, frowning at his friend, "Gwen was here?"

"Sorry, Tennyson," said Kevin, a smirk on his mouth, as he leaned back against the headboard, "But a secret like that is reserved for people I trust."

"So, no one," said Ben, crossing his arms on his chest and glaring at the boy. He was starting to regret coming here.

"Exactly," said Kevin, "Seriously, though, what are you doing here?"

"Gwen made you take me to bed," he snapped, "I can't believe you do everything she tells you."

"Yeah," said Kevin, turning his head away from the boy. He remembered what he had told the girl: Sometimes you've just gotta let other people take care of you. And then he had actually fallen asleep beside her! What the heck was wrong with him? "Me neither."

"So, now what?" Ben asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the boy.

"You're saying that she just sent you up here?" Kevin asked. He was back to business. Reading people (and aliens) was what he did.

"Yeah, so?" asked Ben. He had no idea what Kevin had in mind.

"What was her excuse?" he continued.

"It's late," Ben said, his frown deepening, "Why?"

"That's the oldest excuse in the book. It's the one parents use to send kids to bed," Kevin explained, "She just wanted you gone. Chances are, if you listened in, well, you'd probably get some valuable info from them." He was playing an angle: the get-the-annoying-kid-out-of-your-room-and-find-out-if-you're-dating-the-hot-red-head-in-the-future angle. "Tell me if you get anything, 'kay?"

He leaned back on his pillow like he was going back to sleep.

"Sure thing, Kev," said Ben, "I hope you're right."

He shut the door and quietly crept over to the corner of the landing, right by the stairs.

"Yeah, me too," Kevin whispered, shutting his eyes. Ben didn't hear him.

Downstairs the teens were all gathered in a circle around Cooper. Well, almost all of them. Eunice was missing.

"What happened to them?" Cooper asked. His hands were held out in front of him over three masks, like he was performing a sacred ritual or something. His eyes were that mechanical blue again.

"I don't know," the older Kevin answered, peering down over the boy's shoulder, "I found them in my car like this."

"That's weird," said the older Ben, "Kevin always keeps his car, and everything in it, in perfect condition. What could've happened to them?"

"Maybe it was when the rakarus attacked us in the woods the day before yesterday," the older Gwen suggested.

"Can you fix them?" Julie asked.

"I think so," said Cooper. After a few seconds of silence he added, "Yes, I can. They'll be as good as new when I'm through with them."

"Good," said the older Kevin, taking a step back and going over to the TV to check out the video game that the younger Ben had been playing, "Hey, I remember this game. You up for a round, Tennyson?" He turned to smirk at the 16-year-old.

"I don't think so," said Ben, "I haven't played that one in a while. I'm not sure I even remember how."

"It's just as well," said the older Kevin, shrugging his shoulders, "You'd be saving yourself some embarrassment. I could beat you at this with one hand tied behind my back."

"You're gonna eat those words, Kevin," the older Ben told him, narrowing his eyes at the dark teen and smiling a conceited smile. They each took a controller and started playing.

"Well, I'm gonna go help Eunice do the dishes," said Julie, getting up and walking over to the kitchen.

The older Gwen was left alone with Cooper.

"You shouldn't do that," she told him quietly so that no one else would hear. The younger Ben had to strain his ears to hear her.

"Do what?" asked Cooper, "Fix Kevin's ID masks?"

"No. Act like him," she answered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the masks. A small blush was creeping over his cheeks.

"'They'll be as good as new when I'm through with them,'" Gwen quoted. She was doing that a lot lately. "Now, who does that remind you of?"

"You, doing a bad impression of me," Cooper told her, making her laugh.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Cooper, you and I are never gonna happen, you know that, right?" she said, putting her hand on his knee. He froze at the contact.

"Yeah, because of him," Cooper said bitterly.

"Yes, that's part of it," Gwen admitted, her eyes straying briefly to Kevin.

"A part of it?" Cooper repeated incredulously. He lifted his eyes to gawk at her. "And what's the rest? I know you like me, don't deny it. Especially since my growth spurt. I've saved a lot of lives, I'm smart – tell me, Gwen, what's the rest?"

"You don't get me," she said gently, "Not like he does."

Cooper thought of that for a few minute. Whoever he was, he must've known Gwen pretty well.

"Yeah, I guess not," said Cooper gently, shaking his head, "He knows what you're thinking before you've even thought it."

"Yeah, something like that," said Gwen, tucking her hair behind her ear and avoiding his piercing blue eyes, "Look, Cooper, I don't like you that way, but I know someone who does."

Her eyes strayed to the kitchen.

"You're kidding," said Cooper, his eyes widening, "She's Ben's girlfriend!"

"Not Julie!" Gwen breathed, shaking her head, "Eunice!"

"Eunice?" Cooper repeated, frowning at the kitchen, no doubt looking at the blonde.

"Of course," said Gwen.

"No way," he said, "She's way out of my league. She's almost as beautiful as you."

"Cooper," said Gwen sternly, glaring at him.

"Right, sorry," he said, looking at her apologetically, "But I need to finish with these energy masks. I'll worry about it tomorrow."

Gwen looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. _Worry_ about it? What was there to worry about? Eunice was beautiful, she liked Cooper… seriously!

"And I thought you were smart," Gwen muttered and got up, going to help her friends in the kitchen.

The younger Ben turned back and went into the younger Kevin's room. He was lying on the bed, the same way Ben had left him, only now there was a frown on his face.

"So, what's going on?" he demanded, looking at the young boy.

"Well, Eunice and Julie are washing dishes, you and I are playing video games, and Gwen and Cooper were just talking about how he should ask out Eunice." The 11-year-old decided not to tell Kevin about what his cousin had said to Cooper. She was getting enough grief from him already. "Oh, and Cooper was fixing some kind of masks. Any idea what they are?"

"ID masks," Kevin answered promptly, "They make you look like anything you want. Level 3 tech. All you have to do is put them on."

"Okay…" said the younger Ben, "That was kinda creepy. How did you know that?"

"Quarrel taught me about some of the tech the guards had. Apparently ID masks are standard issue in the Null Void," the young osmosian explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Quarrel?" Ben repeated, frowning deeply.

"Yeah," Kevin told him, "He's the guy who helped me get my powers under control."

"Oh," said the younger Ben, not knowing what else to say. This was the kid who had tried to kill him. A lot of times.

"What else is going on down there?" the younger Kevin suddenly asked, bringing the 11-year-old out of his thoughts.

"Nothing," the younger Ben lied, shrugging his shoulders.

The older boy narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're lying," he stated after a moment's silence.

"What?" Ben cried out, surprised at how easily the ex-con had seen through him, "No, I'm not!"

"Your left eye's twitching," Kevin told him, "So yeah, you are."

"It doesn't twitch," Ben told him defensively.

"Actually, yeah, it does," the older Kevin's voice told him from the doorway, "In fact, that little detail saved your life, once."

The younger Ben spun around to see the osmosian leaning casually in the doorway, the older version of his red headed, and apparently terrifying, cousin in front of him. She had her arms crossed on her chest and a slightly amused expression on her pale face.

"Ben, what did I say?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the younger boy.

"Um…go to bed?" he said, as if though unsure.

"Yes," she said slowly, "and now please do that, or else." She looked dangerous. The older Kevin smirked at the terrified expression on the boy's face.

"And you tried to tell us that she didn't scare you," he said, shaking his head, "Now, are you gonna be a good kid and do what she says, or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"Forget it!" he cried, "You'll never take me alive!"

The younger Ben hit the dial of the Omnitrix, immediately changing into Xlr8, and ran out of the room in the blink of an eye. The younger Kevin laughed.

"And you find this funny how?" asked the older Gwen.

"It's just the irony," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "A year ago, I was the one running, and he was the one trying to put me in jail. About time the tables got turned."

The red head sighed in exasperation.

"I will never understand you," she said, shaking her head.

"Gwen, we can talk later," said the older Kevin, "Right now we've got a rouge Tennyson running through the woods."

"Fine," the 16-year-old girl sighed, "Let's go get him before he does something, well, Ben-like."

"Wait!" the younger Kevin cried.

The two teens stopped to look back at him.

"How did you know he was in here?" he asked, frowning at the two intently.

"She's an annodyte," the older Kevin answered like it should have been obvious, "She knows all…"

And with that, the two teens ran downstairs, leaving the 12-year-old to ponder the mysteries of the future. Or, more specifically, the mysteries of his future best friend's red haired cousin.

Downstairs, Gwen and Kevin had just appeared running down the steps. The front door was thudding against its frame, assuring the couple that the bearer of the Omnitrix had escaped the confines of the log cabin.

"Whoa, what happened to you two?" asked Julie, stepping away from the sink and wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"Ben," they said simultaneously.

"What about him?" Cooper asked, frowning at them quizzically.

"He turned into Xlr8 and ran away," Gwen explained, tugging on her dress. It was beautiful, and fit her like a glove, but, man it was hard to run in!

"Xlr8?" Eunice asked, frowning at the two of them.

"Yeah, it's one of my aliens," Ben explained, "Probably the fastest being in the universe. So, what are we gonna do?"

"We split up and search for him, duh," said the older Kevin, rolling his eyes.

"But what about the younger Gwen and Kevin?" Cooper asked, "We can't just leave them here alone."

"Cooper's right," said the 16-year-old girl, "So, would you and Eunice mind-"

"No, Cooper and Eunice have been playing house enough over the past few days," the wearer of the Ultimatrix disagreed, "You and Kevin can stay here with them this time. We'll find him."

"Ben-" Gwen started to interject, but the brunette lifted his hand and cut her off again.

"Gwen, think about it. You woke up this morning from a hangover, you've done a transportation spell that nearly caused you to pass out, and, oh yeah, you've gotten what? Three hours of sleep this whole week?" he snapped at her, "You deserve a little time off. Jules, Eunice, Cooper , and I'll go find him."

Gwen opened her mouth to argue again, but this time, it was Kevin who stopped her. He put his large hand on her shoulder and lightly turned her back to face him.

"He's right, you know," he told her, "They can take care of your cousin."

Gwen sighed and nodded.

"Alright," she said, turning back to her cousin, "but if you're not back in half an hour, we're going to help you look."

The older Ben exchanged a look with his friend and then sighed.

"Fine. Then we better make this fast," he said and the four of them took off.

"Come on," said Kevin gently, "Tennyson's not the only one that needs to sleep."

"Kevin, I'm-" Gwen was quickly cut off by a pair of soft lips crashing onto hers. She felt Kevin's arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. Her small hands traveled up his arms and tangled themselves in his hair, trying to be as close to him as humanly possible.

"I love you," he breathed against her lips, threading his fingers through her mane of red hair.

"I love you too," she stated. His mouth made its way down her jaw to her neck, where he nibbled on the supple skin. She tilted her head back to give him more access and moaned. She knew as well as he did that he would leave his mark, but neither one could bring themselves to care.

Finally he lifted her up bridal style and carried her upstairs in his arms, back to the main bedroom. She smiled as he set her down gently, as if though she were a fragile glass figurine, rather than an all-powerful annodyte. He placed a quick kiss on her fore head and lay down beside her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Go to sleep, Gwen," he breathed, his breath tickling the back of her throat. She sighed.

"Don't leave, Kevin," she breathed back, already falling into unconsciousness.

"I'm not going anywhere," Kevin promised her.

Back in the woods, the four teens had split up into two groups when they realized that searching together was hardly gonna accomplish anything. They weren't trying to sneak up on an enemy; they were trying to sneak up on a stubborn 11-year-old boy. Ben and Julie were one group, Eunice and Cooper – the other.

Julie and Ben were walking down a winding path through seemingly never ending clusters of bushes and trees. They were keeping as quiet as possible, so that they wouldn't be overheard by the young boy. This was very hard to do, considering that the ground was covered in a blanket of pine needles.

"Do you really think we'll find him?" Julie asked her boyfriend, looking at her surroundings fearfully. If there was one thing that Julie hated, it was walking through the forest at night. Multiple experiences with Ben, Gwen and Kevin had proved that the result was always the same – trouble.

"No," the older Ben told her truthfully, peering into the distance, "I'm hoping the Omnitrix times out somewhere nearby, and we see the light so that we know where he is. Then I'm pretty sure we can catch up to him."

"Oh," said Julie, "So in other words, you have no idea what we're doing."

"Not a clue," the 16-year-old brunette hero agreed.

Julie rolled her eyes.

"We should've let Gwen and Kevin go and stay home," she muttered.

"Hey," said Ben, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared." There was a hint of a smile on his lips. The Japanese-American glared at him.

"I am not scared," she stated. An owl hooted somewhere in a nearby tree. Automatically, the girl clutched Ben's arm, making him freeze in his tracks. The emerald-eyed teen chuckled.

"Don't worry," he promised, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tighter in his embrace, "I'll protect you."

Julie smiled.

"Thanks," she whispered and leaned up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Ben blushed as she let go and started walking ahead of him again. The two walked in companionable silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts. Julie was worrying about what could be lurking in the dark behind the pine trees, or hiding in the bushes. She wanted to go back to the large log cabin, curl up in bed and fall asleep. That was one thing she had in common with Kevin – spending a night in the woods wasn't her idea of having a good time.

Ben was thinking about what had happened over the past few days. How much danger everyone was in. Of course, he could've blamed it all on Gwen for not going to Annodyne when she had the chance, but that seemed like an incredibly selfish thing to think. Not to mention that Kevin would beat him up if he ever voiced the thought. And the osmosian had a way of guessing these things, anyway, so what was the point? He'd probably just hang him from another alligator-infested river. And Ben didn't care that everyone said they were frogs, he thought they were alligators, and that was what mattered.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said, staring at the ground, the trees, the sky – anywhere but at his beloved girlfriend.

"Sorry about what?" Julie asked, turning her head to face him. She was disappointed when he didn't look back at her, but wasted no time in fixing that problem. If Ben avoided her gaze, then that meant that there was something important on his mind. And a miracle like that happened only once or twice in a lifetime. She grabbed his wrist and forced him to stop. Unwillingly, the boy turned his head to face the dark haired girl.

"About everything," he told her, shrugging his shoulders, "I've been putting you in danger ever since our first date on the pier. I really wish it didn't have to be that way."

"Hey, it's not your fault that you got stuck with the most powerful weapon in the universe on your wrist," Julie told him gently, putting her hand on his cheek.

"Yeah," Ben agreed, "But it is my fault that I keep on putting you and everyone else around me in danger. If I'd had better control of this thing," he waved the Ultimaterix up for her to see, "then a lot of stupid stuff never would've happened. Like Kevin getting mutated."

"No one blames you for that, Ben," Julie told him, "It was an accident."

"Gwen does," Ben said, remembering how his cousin had been for that one week, "She even told me."

"She was just upset that the guy she cared about more than anything in the world got turned into a monster," Julie said quietly, "I would've felt the same way if it had been you."

Ben gave her a weak smile which she returned. The two teens leaned in towards each other. Ben's arms were wrapping around Julie's waist, and her hands were around his neck. His lips were only a breath away, so soft and tempting-

"Ah! Let me go!" a shrill kid's voice rang out from a few feet away.

"Ugh, Kevin's right," the older Ben stated, stepping away from his girlfriend, "I do always ruin everything."

Julie smiled teasingly.

"Not everything," she promised, "Come on. It sounds like Cooper and Eunice got him."

* * *

Cooper and Eunice were walking down a different path than the one Julie and Ben had taken. They had been walking for several minutes in silence, until they came to a fork in the road.

"Let's go left," Eunice suggested.

"No, I think we should go right," Cooper disagreed.

"Why?" the blonde asked, "All the paths probably meet up again sometime later, so what's the difference?"

"Exactly," Cooper said, narrowing his eyes at the girl, "What's the difference?"

Eunice glared at him.

"You tell me," she demanded, crossing her arms on her chest defensively.

The blonde teen looked like he was gonna argue, but then sighed and shook his head. He didn't believe for a second that Gwen was right, but she probably knew this stuff better than he did. He remembered how Kevin always gave into her, unless she was in mortal danger. And they definitely weren't in mortal danger now. This was Ben, for crying out loud!

But just as he opened his mouth to comply, Eunice grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to the ground.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, looking at the girl with shocked eyes, but not doing anything to free his arm.

"Look, footprints!" Eunice exclaimed, pointing to a trail of footprints leading down the left path.

"How do you know they're Ben's?" Cooper asked.

Eunice cocked an eyebrow. A small smile crossed her face.

"You know much about the forest, do you?" she asked, getting up.

"No," Cooper admitted, smiling and getting up as well, "I can't even remember the last time I went camping."

"That's…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Eunice loved the forest, and all its creatures. It was the main reason she was a vegetarian. Azmyth had even made a holographic forest for her to spend her free time in. He had even brought some animals for her to play with. Of course, she had had to beg and plead until he finally agreed, but still.

"Horrible?" Cooper suggested, knowing the girl's love for the outdoors.

"Well, not for you, I guess," she said, turning and starting to walk again.

"But you?" Cooper prompted, not taking his eyes off the girl.

"I can't imagine a life like that," Eunice told him, "Cutting yourself off from the rest of the world and everything beautiful…I couldn't live like that."

"Isn't that how you already live?" Cooper asked, a small smirk on his face.

"No," Eunice told him, smiling now, "Azmyth gave me my own holographic forest."

Cooper laughed.

"How did you get him to do that?" he asked.

"I guess he got tired of my whining," Eunice said, rolling her eyes, "I would've preferred it if there was a meadow, but I guess you can't have everything."

"No, you can't," Cooper agreed bitterly, turning away from her, his whole mood diminishing.

Eunice placed her small hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned to look at her.

"It's Gwen, isn't it?" she asked, not a trace of humor in her voice. Cooper was accustomed to people making fun of his crush on Gwen, so that was a pleasant surprise.

"Yeah," he agreed, again.

"No one blames you for liking her," Eunice told him, "She is beautiful."

They suddenly heard the crunch of pine needles somewhere behind them in the bushes. Both teens froze.

"What was that?" Eunice asked, fear in her green eyes, thoughts of the vicious rakari flooding her mind.

"I don't know," Cooper whispered, taking her hand and dragging her to the bush where they heard the noise. He parted the branches and-

"Ow!" he exclaimed, falling on his back on the forest floor. A stick had hit him on the head painfully.

"Ha ha!" the younger Ben laughed, jumping out of the bush and taking off again.

Eunice knelt down beside Cooper.

"Are you alright?" she asked, helping him sit up.

"Yeah, fine," Cooper assured her, getting up, "Come on, we have to catch him."

The two of them took off after the crazed boy, who was still laughing like a maniac.

"Wait," Eunice breathed, stopping in her tracks.

Cooper frowned, surprised that the girl was tired already.

"If we want to catch him, we need to be smart," she insisted, feeling like a character from a children's book, "Ben doesn't think, he acts. That's his one flaw."

"Okay, Miss Know-It-All," said Cooper, rolling his eyes. Eunice punched him in the shoulder lightly. "What did you have in mind?"

Eunice smiled as a family of rabbits hopped out of the woods. She knelt down and picked one up, absorbing its powers.

"Keep chasing him," she said, before turning around and jumping away.

Cooper shook his head in amusement, before doing as she said and running after the boy.

Eunice jumped as quickly and quietly as she could. A few 20-foot high jumps later she saw the 11-year-old boy. He was running to a small clearing.

"Bingo," Eunice breathed, jumping ahead of him to the clearing. A few seconds after she arrived, a bear came out to greet her. She absorbed his strength and waited for the boy to run into her.

She wasn't disappointed. Laughing like a maniac, the younger Ben ran straight into her open arms.

"Ah!" he squealed, "Let me go!"

"Nice job," Cooper panted, completely out of breath. His eyes widened when he saw the bear behind her. "Um, Eunice? I don't mean to scare you, but there's a bear standing right behind you."

"There is?" the younger Ben cried, "Cool!" He tried to get out of the blonde girl's steel-like embrace, but to no avail.

"Aw, are you afraid of the bear?" Eunice teased, her green eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

"Yes," Cooper told her, alarmed at how calm she was being. Weren't most girls (who weren't Gwen Tennyson,) afraid of bears and other giant, scary animals that could tear you to shreds?

Eunice sighed, seeing how terrified the blonde teen was.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you," she promised. A small smile lit up her beautiful face as she remembered something. "Being scared of a bear is better than being scared of a bunny."

Cooper laughed.

"A bunny?" he repeated, "Who in their right mind is scared of a bunny?"

"Hey, I wasn't scared of him!" another familiar voice told them. Eunice turned around to see the older Ben, along with Julie running towards them.

"Of course you weren't," Julie told him, shaking her head at her idiot of a boyfriend.

"Ugh," the younger Ben groaned, "Is there anything I'm not afraid of in the future?"

"Aliens," Cooper offered, a smile on his face.

"Right," the older Ben agreed.

"We should be getting back now," said Eunice, "Gwen and Kevin are probably worried."

"Yeah, how long were we gone?" the older Ben asked.

"Thirty seven minutes," Julie answered, checking her wristwatch.

"Does it matter?" the younger Ben snapped, "You caught me. Now, put me down!"

"Are you gonna try to run again?" Eunice asked.

"No," the younger Ben promised. It was late, and he had spent the past 37 minutes running. He was tired, for crying out loud!

"Hang on, Eunice," said Cooper, a smile on his face, "He didn't say please."

The younger Ben narrowed his eyes at the blond boy.

"Didn't Gwen tell you not to act like Kevin?" he snapped.

Cooper was taken aback. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, not saying anything.

"Ben," Eunice breathed, "Do you want me to put you down?"

Cooper smiled a grateful smile at her. She smiled back, trying to convey the hidden message in her eyes, _We'll talk later_.

"Yes," the younger Ben told her.

"Then say please," Julie told him, crossing her arms on her chest. She was enjoying this just as much as the two blond teens.

"Fine," the younger Ben huffed, "Eunice, _please_ put me down!"

The blond girl smiled and set the 11-year-old down.

"Kevin would love this," said the older Ben, shaking his head, "By the way, if any of you tell him about this…"

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Cooper.

"No chance," Eunice promised.

Everyone turned to Julie. She had a sly smile on her face.

"Julie, please," the older Ben begged, dropping on his knees and clutching his hands together.

"Well, you did say please…" the tennis player mused, "Alright, I won't tell."

The older Ben sighed in relief. He knew that if the osmosian ever found out, he wouldn't live it down.

"Come on," said Cooper, "Let's go back."

The five of them started their long journey back. It wasn't long before the younger Ben's eyelids started dropping, and he was yawning. He stumbled over a root and fell down flat on his face. In moments he was asleep. The teens stared down at the kid in wonder.

"I'll get him," said Cooper, reaching down to pick up the young boy.

After a few more seconds in companionable silence the older Ben suddenly stopped walking and froze in his tracks.

"Ben?" asked Julie, "What's wrong?"

"How long did Gwen say she would give us?" the brunette teen asked, frowning at the path in front of them.

"Half an… Oh no," the raven-haired girl breathed.

"You don't think Kevin let her go, do you?" Cooper asked, worry evident in his ice blue eyes.

"I doubt it," said the older Ben, "But it's Gwen. If she wants to do something, then she'll do it, no matter what Kevin says."

"Let's go back to the house," Eunice suggested, "We need to put him in bed, and we'll check if Kevin and Gwen are there. If not, then we'll go out looking for them."

"Alright," Julie agreed, and they half ran the rest of the way.

They saw that the house was still lit, and Kenny was asleep in the armchair, a book dangling from his hand, threatening to drop down on the floor at any minute.

"Julie, you and Eunice get to bed, Cooper, put the younger me in bed, and I'll go check on Kevin and Gwen," the 16-year-old brunette instructed. He and Cooper ran as quietly as they could upstairs, leaving the two girls to exchange looks and then go back upstairs to fall asleep in the first free bedrooms that they found as soon as they fell down on the mattresses.

Cooper took the younger Ben back to the bedroom next to the one where the older Kevin had set his cousin.

The older Ben cautiously opened the door to the master bedroom, half afraid of what he would find there. He poked his head in through the crack, and almost laughed out loud when he saw Gwen sleeping soundly in Kevin's arms. The osmosian's eyes were open, and he was watching the girl with such affection in his eyes, that it almost made the teen hero gag.

Instead he just barely stifled a giggle.

The older Kevin's eyes snapped away from the red head in his arms to her obnoxious cousin. He glared at the 16-year-old, tightening his arms around Gwen involuntarily.

"Mm, Kevin?" the girl breathed, stirring in his arms, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, beautiful," Kevin whispered in her hair, "Go back to sleep."

Gwen groaned, but complied easily.

The older Ben chuckled again.

"Dude, you are such a sap," he told him, before disappearing through the doorway.

He knew he was probably gonna regret that in the morning, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care. For once, everything had worked out perfectly: no aliens, no mystical monsters, no more unwanted intruders. Maybe the whole thing with the rakari would blow over soon, and then everything would return back to normal.

He had no idea what was in store for them.

* * *

**A/N: There you go, chapter 13! Sorry if it seemed kinda OC. And I know a lot of people don't read author's notes, so in case you didn't read the one at the top, go and do it.**

**Reviews will make me update faster! So go ahead and press that little button down there. You know you want to…**


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews. I can't believe I got so many in so little time! You're the best! =) And, well, technically this chapter should have been up by the day before yesterday, but I lost my Flash drive and only found it this morning.

* * *

The next morning the older Gwen woke up in Kevin's arms again. She yawned and turned over to face him. She smiled into his chest, feeling the soft material of his T-shirt against her skin. It had the unique scent that she could only define as Kevin. It was her favorite perfume. If all the scientists in the world had come together to make the most delicious, perfect perfume in the world, they would've come up with the one that encircled him. It was perfect, but then again, so was Kevin.

Suddenly, she felt his arms wrap around her even tighter. He rolled over, pulling her on top of him, so that she was straddling him, her arms braced on the sides of his head. His eyes were closed, but there was a mischievous smile on his lips, letting her know that he was awake. His arms moved down to her hips, holding her in place. Her hair was falling over her shoulder, tickling his face. The annodyte smiled and tucked it back behind her ear.

"Good morning," she breathed, pressing her lips gently against his. He smiled and crushed her to him, moving his arms up and down on her hips, trying to feel every inch, every curve of the perfect girl on top of him. Her hands traced aimless shapes on his chest and played with his hair.

"Good morning," he breathed back, hooking one of her legs around his waist suddenly and rolling her over so that he was on top. His tongue traced the outline of her lips, begging for entrance. She granted it. Their tongues battled for dominance – a battle that she was rapidly losing.

Finally he broke away for air.

"I wouldn't mind a wake up call like that every morning," he breathed.

Gwen chuckled.

"Neither would I," she agreed and pulled him back down on top her. He chuckled and resumed their make out session. All too soon, Gwen flipped them again, and pulled away. Kevin growled in the back of his throat. The girl smiled and pressed her lips against his again, but pulled away when he tried to deepen the kiss.

"I need to get dressed," she insisted, climbing out of the bed.

Kevin smirked.

"Well, why didn't you just say that?" the osmosian asked, getting out of bed as well and walking over to the giant walk-in closet across the room from the bed. He opened it to reveal a row of dresses, skirts, and shirts on one side, obviously his mother's, and jeans, T-shirts, and button-down shirts on the other. Probably his dad's.

"Wow," Gwen breathed, "Remind me again, why do you live in Bellwood?"

Kevin snorted.

"Because you need a ride to and from school every day, remember?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and went over to the closet. There was so much stuff in there to choose from, it was almost like being at the mall again.

She finally settled on a black knee-length skirt and a white button-down shirt. She took them down from the hangers and turned back to her smirking boyfriend, her eyes narrowed. He had already replaced the white T-shirt with a black one.

"What?" he asked, obviously not seeing the problem.

"Turn around," she ordered, clutching the clothes to her chest.

"Excuse you?" he said, frowning as if though she had just said that his car wasn't the fastest, most perfect car in the entire world, "You let me see you in practically see-through lingerie in the mall, and now I have to turn around? What kind of twisted planet is this?"

"Very funny, Kevin," the red head said, rolling her eyes, "Now, please, turn around."

He glared at her one last time before turning around, waiting for her to get changed.

"Alright, you can look now," she said patiently, standing with her hands on her hips, watching the 17-year-old for his reaction.

"Whoa," was the only thing he said. His eyes traveled down her slight frame, noting every detail.

Gwen smirked.

"Not the reaction I was hoping for," she stated, "But I'll take it."

"And I thought you looked hot in the red dress," he muttered, making the girl's smirk widen.

"You know, breakfast probably won't be ready for a while," Gwen breathed, stepping towards him. That was all the encouragement he needed. Before Gwen knew what was happening, she was pinned to the mattress of the bed by Kevin's strong arms, his lips working feverishly over hers.

* * *

Downstairs, Eunice and Ken had been up since 7 a.m. making pancakes for breakfast. Eunice was telling him the events of the previous night, which, of course, he'd missed.

"…and then we brought Ben back here. I don't think Gwen tried to follow us," she finished.

"So let me get this straight," said Ken, handing her the bowl of pancake mix, "Ben tried to run off as some alien named Xlr8, instead of getting a good night's sleep in a nice comfortable bed?"

"Yeah," Eunice laughed, "It does sound pretty stupid when you put it like that."

"No, it sounds like Ben," Ken responded, wondering how he and his straight-A student of a sister, could be related to someone so, well, stupid, "In fact I would be surprised if he actually did go to bed the first time."

"He's not that bad," said Eunice, smiling as she poured pancake mix on the pan, "His flirting sucks, and he's, well, abnormal, but he's not that bad."

"This coming from the girl who he almost cheated on his girlfriend with," Ken reminded her, casting the girl a meaningful look.

"Alright, you have a point," she admitted, turning her eyes away from the red haired boy and focusing back on the pancakes, "But he only did that because he thought he and Julie were broken up."

"Still, that's no excuse," said Ken.

"You sound like Gwen," Eunice told him, smiling as she poured the last of the pancake mix on the pan.

"Well, we are brother and sister," Ken told her, "I guess there are some traits that we share."

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed.

Suddenly they heard footsteps descending the stairs. Both teens looked up and saw the younger Ben rubbing sleep out of his eyes and stumbling into the living room.

"Morning," said Eunice, hands on her hips, as the 11-year-old boy turned the TV on. Honestly, he had no manners.

"Hey," he said. Noticing the looks the two were giving him, his eyes widened in innocence. "What did I do?"

"Ever heard of saying good morning?" Eunice asked, taking the plate of pancakes to the coffee table.

"I said 'hey'," the younger Ben reminded her, slightly annoyed, and keeping his eyes on the plate, "Mm! Pancakes!"

"Yes," said Eunice, moving the plate out of his reach and slapping his hand away, "Pancakes that you are not going to get until everyone's downstairs."

"Now, do something productive and set the table," Ken told him, suddenly appearing at the blonde's shoulder. He sat down in the arm chair and continued to glare at the younger version of his favorite brunette cousin. Which, considering that he had to choose between Sunny and Ben, wasn't saying much.

"But Sumo Slammers is on!" the younger Ben cried, pointing at the screen, where two huge Japanese men were fighting each other.

"Now," said Ken, glaring at the younger version of his ever-so-obnoxious cousin.

"Ugh, fine," the boy groaned and disappeared into the kitchen, just as Julie appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Good morning," she said. She was dressed in a yellow sundress that reached down to her knee.

"Hey, Julie," said Ken, watching as the younger Ben struggled with the task of carrying 10 plates to the coffee table.

"Yum, pancakes!" she cried, "Eunice, you are a miracle worker!"

"Thanks," said Eunice, tucking her blonde hair back behind her ear, "Ken helped too."

"Really?" Julie asked, surprise lining her features, "I didn't know you could cook."

"Do you and Ben ever actually talk about me?" Ken asked, smiling at her.

"Sometimes," Julie admitted, settling down on the couch, "He told me how Kevin didn't want to look for you until he found out that you were Gwen's brother when the DNAliens kidnapped you."

"Wait, what?" the younger Ben cried, setting the plates down.

"What are DNAliens?" Eunice asked, heading back to the kitchen to find something to drink.

"Nothing important," Ken assured her, acting like he hadn't heard the 11-year-old boy.

"Yeah, yeah, but what was that you said about Kevin?" the younger Ben asked, settling down on the arm of the armchair and focusing on his future girlfriend.

"Well, I don't know the details, but Ken was kidnapped by the DNAliens to be used as bait for your grandfather. Ben tried to convince Kevin to go find him. But, of course, Kevin's response was 'He's your cousin. Why should I care?' So then Gwen said that he was her brother, and then next thing they know it's like their lives depend on finding him," Julie told him.

The younger Ben laughed.

"So, the big bad wolf has a crush on little red riding hood?" he laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eunice asked, genuinely confused. She came back in the living room and sat down on the couch beside her friend, setting a carton of orange juice on the table.

"Kevin's got a crush on Gwen?" the brunette boy tried again.

"Not a crush," Ken laughed, "He cares about her. A lot."

"Huh. You know, that's the second time someone's used the words 'Kevin', 'cares', and 'Gwen' in the same sentence," the 11-year-old boy told them accusingly.

His unspoken question hung in the air until Eunice decided it was time for a subject change.

"So, Julie, what's going on upstairs?" she asked, focusing all her attention on her Japanese-American friend. Ken quickly followed her lead. The younger Ben rolled his eyes, deciding that it could wait until later.

"Nothing much," Julie answered, flashing her new friend a grateful smile, "The Kevins, Gwens, and the other Ben are still asleep, and Cooper's still working on the ID masks."

"Oh," said Eunice, "Well, they better get down here soon. The pancakes are getting cold. By the way, you look really nice."

"Thanks," said Julie, smiling down at the sundress. She then eyed Eunice's clothes. They were still the same as the ones she had worn yesterday. "You know, you could probably take something from your closet. I don't think Kevin would mind."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," said Eunice, shaking her blonde hair, "He's already being so nice. I don't want to take advantage."

"Ha!" the younger Ben laughed, "Kevin Levin's being nice is a situation that you _have _to take advantage of."

"He's kind of right," said Ken.

Eunice looked thoughtful for a moment.

"No, really," she finally said, shaking her head again.

The two teens and the boy sighed, wondering how on earth this girl could ever pass for a human. She was way too…well, humane.

* * *

Back upstairs, the younger Gwen woke up slowly, which, for her, was strange. She was, after all, a morning person. Suddenly, the events of last night came back to her like a slap in the face. Now she was wide awake. Her eyes were wide open as she bolted upright in bed.

Did she really fall asleep beside _Kevin Levin_? Or was that all part of some twisted, crazy, magic-induced nightmare? No, it wasn't a nightmare. She'd actually enjoyed falling asleep beside the young osmosian.

Gwen turned to look beside her. He wasn't there. The young red head sighed in relief. Maybe it was all a dream. Then she got a look around the room, and realized that it wasn't the same one where she'd fallen asleep. The wallpaper here was a pale lavender, while the one in the other room had been an ornate golden green. The girl was confused. How did she get here?

Then it dawned on her – the older Kevin must've carried her to this room while she was asleep. Thank God. If Ben had seen her with his arch enemy, neither of them would ever live it down. Or, well, until this insane adventure ended. Then they would probably forget everything that had happened to them and go back to their normal lives.

She shuddered. Normal. There was nothing normal about their lives, if recent experiences had proved anything at all. She couldn't even imagine what would happen to Kevin. Would he go back to the Null Void? Or would they, by some miracle, let him go? She doubted it. That would mean messing with the past, and it was clear that everyone was happy with how their future had turned out. Even Kevin.

The girl sighed and got out of bed. Then, on the desk, she saw a small package carefully wrapped in brown tissue paper.

"What's that?" she breathed, walking over to the desk. The morning sun was shining through the open window, casting the room in a golden glow. It couldn't have been more than 8 a.m. The girl cautiously took the package and untied the bright red ribbon. Attached to it was a card.

_Dear__est Gwendolyn,_

_You will have__ several drastic experiences tonight. Hope this helps._

_-Paradox_

She frowned and carefully removed the tissue paper. Inside was a carefully folded piece of fabric with a lavender-rimmed black cat mask on top. She took the mask and placed it on the desk and unfolded the material and held it up to her body. She had a feeling that she knew what it was. Her suspicions were confirmed.

"My Lucky Girl outfit?" she wondered aloud, folding the cat suit back and setting it down on the desk and playing with the mask, "What's this for?"

She remembered Paradox, and what he had been like. He did seem the type to leave mysterious messages without a good reason. Only this time he obviously did have a good reason. She reread the card.

Drastic experiences? What was he talking about? Were the rakari attacking again tonight? If they were, why not just go to the older her and give her her Lucky Girl outfit?

"It's just never that simple, is it?" she muttered in exasperation.

The girl wrapped the package back up and put it in one of the desk drawers. She went to the closet on the other side of the bed and opened the door slowly. It was, strangely enough, full of all sorts of clothes her size! No wonder Kevin had put her in this room.

Gwen nearly squealed in excitement. She quickly tore through the many dresses, pants, tops, and blouses, until she finally found a pair of pale blue jeans and a midnight blue sleeveless top. Say what you want, but it was almost too hot to wear anything else.

She quickly ran outside, pausing briefly by Kevin's door. Maybe she should go inside to see how he was. No, what if he was still asleep? Instead she hurried down the stairs.

"Hey, Gwen," said Julie, smiling at the younger version of her friend.

"Morning," she said, a small smile on her face, "Where is everyone?"

"Cooper's working on the ID masks," her annoying cousin said, counting everyone on his fingers, "and the Kevins and the older you and me are still sleeping."

"What's Cooper working on?" she asked, a small frown on her face.

"ID masks," Eunice told her.

"They're like ordinary masks, only when you put them on, you can look like anything you want," the younger Ben butted in again.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders, "I'm not allowed to know about alien tech?"

"No, you're not," his cousin stated, shaking her head.

"Yeah, that's Kevin and Cooper's thing," Ken agreed.

"Is that what you were doing in Kevin's room last night?" Eunice asked, a small smile playing on her mouth, "Asking him about alien tech?"

The younger Ben glared at her.

"You were in Kevin's room last night?" Gwen asked, a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

"You're one to talk," Ben immediately snapped back at her – a reflex reaction. He was up from the couch in an instant, "Weren't you in his room last night, too?"

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked cautiously, her eyes widening in fear. How had he found out?

"He said something about how all of us Tennysons were planning a sleepover in his room or something," the 11-year-old brunette said, narrowing his eyes at his cousin. Everyone else was quiet, waiting in anticipation. Usually it was Gwen who had Ben cornered, not the other way around. It was an interesting turn of events. "What was he talking about?"

"I have no idea," the red head snapped, seeing that the only way she would get out of this would be by lying.

"Oh, so you weren't in his room last night?" the younger Ben asked, stepping closer to her, so that he was practically in her face.

"Of course not, Ben," she snapped, rolling her eyes at him. If there was one thing she excelled at, it was making her cousin look like the idiot he was. Of course, she excelled at a lot of stuff, but this was one of her favorite things to excel at. "He's your arch enemy. Well, technically in the future he's your best friend, but that hasn't happened yet."

"So, then why did he say it?" the younger Ben demanded. He was starting to remind everyone of an obnoxious, jealous girlfriend by now.

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" she snapped at him.

"Ugh, fine," the younger Ben snapped and went to sit back down on the couch beside Julie and Eunice.

The younger Gwen hid a smile as she sat down on the couch across from the younger Ben. Then suddenly something dawned on her. Kevin had told her cousin about what had happened, or at least part of it.

_It probably just slipped out. You know how he is,_ a small voice whispered to her. What startled her the most was not the fact that the voice was right. Not at all. It was that it was actually _defending_ the juvenile delinquent that she herself had just proclaimed as her cousin's arch enemy. What was wrong with her?

After all, he hadn't technically said the words, "She came to my room and we both fell asleep in the same bed." Now, if he would only play along when Ben went to talk to him again. Ugh, not going to his room was a mistake.

"You know, we should probably go get everyone," said Eunice, bringing the red head out of her thoughts, "The pancakes are getting cold."

"Even Kevin?" Ken asked, bringing up the very good point that the 12-year-old was badly injured still, and should probably sleep as long as he wanted.

"Well, no," Eunice finally agreed, "Not Kevin."

At that moment Cooper appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Cooper!" Julie exclaimed. The blond boy looked startled as he paused on his way down, waiting for what the girl would say. "Could you please go get Kevin, Gwen and Ben?"

"Breakfast's getting cold," Ken explained, not wanting the boy to feel like he was being used to do the chores that they were too lazy to do.

"Sure," said Cooper, smiling at everyone, "But what about the younger Kevin? Is he getting breakfast in bed?"

"Maybe later," said Eunice, a small smile on her face.

"When he's had more sleep," the younger Gwen added.

Cooper shrugged and went to the main bedroom. He was guessing that was where Kevin had put Gwen to sleep. If he had learned anything about the couple, it was that Gwen only got the best from him. Not that he could blame the osmosian. If he was the one dating her, he would do anything for her, too.

He opened the door to the suite to find the couple lying on the bed, Gwen underneath Kevin. Her legs were hooked around his waist, blouse unbuttoned, hair a complete mess. Kevin was on top of her, just barely keeping himself from crushing the fragile girl, while at the same time, pinning her wrists above her head. His shirt was thrown somewhere across the room.

Neither of them noticed the blond teen glaring at them from the doorway. Cooper sighed and closed the door behind him, shutting it loudly. This made the older Gwen gasp and tear her mouth away from Kevin's. She looked up at Cooper with wide eyes. Kevin looked up then, too. He immediately got off Gwen and reached for his shirt.

"Sorry to interrupt," Cooper said in a voice that made it clear that he was anything but, "But breakfast's ready."

"Of course," Gwen said, getting up and buttoning her blouse, not the least bit fazed by the fact that _Cooper _of all people had seen her bra, "Kevin, let's go."

"Nah," the osmosian said once he had succeeded in pulling the shirt up over his head, his cold, dark eyes never wavering from Cooper's ice blue ones, "I'll go wake up Ben. Save me a seat."

Gwen frowned at the two boys, feeling the tension in the air, and then sighed. Unfortunately, there was nothing in this universe that could cure jealousy.

"Alright," she finally agreed, "We'll be downstairs."

Cooper let her pass, his eyes not moving from Kevin's. The stare was that of a man who was looking at someone that had taken something precious of his without permission. Kevin didn't have to remind himself that this kid had no business glaring at him like that. Gwen was his, and that was that.

He reached out and grabbed Cooper's arm, keeping him from exiting the room. Cooper's gaze traveled from Kevin's steel grip up to his face.

"I know what you're thinking," Kevin told him, "Don't mess with me and my girl, kid. You'll regret it."

"You've already proved that you've got no self control more than enough times," Cooper told him, "One of these days, you'll go too far, and then I'll be there, helping her forget."

Kevin smirked as Cooper tugged his arm out of the osmosian's grip.

"If you were smart, you'd leave her alone and go after the blonde," Kevin told him, just before he disappeared through the door.

"What was that about?" the older Gwen asked him as they started walking downstairs.

"Nothing," he told her, risking a shy glance at her figure, "You look great, by the way."

"Thanks," said Gwen, frowning at him, "Cooper, we've been over this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Cooper. By this time they had reached the living room.

* * *

Back upstairs, Kevin opened the room next door to his and Gwen's. There, sprawled over the quilt in his green boxer shorts and a black T-shirt was the older Ben. He was drooling on the pillow. Kevin rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed. The 17-year-old grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled, making the sleeping Tennyson fall out of the bed.

"Ah!" he shrieked like one of his crazed fan girls.

"Get up, Tennyson," said Kevin, glaring at the teen, "Breakfast's getting cold."

"Come on, Kev," Ben whined, rubbing his eyes, "Five more minutes."

"Believe me, no one needs beauty rest more than you," said Kevin, rolling his eyes again, "but everyone's already downstairs. Now move."

"What's with you?" Ben asked, noting his friend's more than usually irritated attitude, "You look like Cooper just interrupted one of your make out sessions with Gwen."

Kevin glared at him. Ben's eyes widened. He had only been joking. He had no idea that that was what had actually happened.

"Just shut up and get dressed," the osmosian told him, shaking his head.

"Yeah, sure," the teen said, watching his friend like he was a cobra that had broken free at the zoo. The only difference was, he didn't know whether or not this cobra was gonna bite him or Cooper.

The older Ben, still staring at the osmosian with wide eyes, slowly got up and inched his way to the door, waiting for the 17-year-old to jump on him and start beating the crap out of him just to have something to take his anger out on. God knew he wouldn't beat up the blonde teen just yet. Cooper still had a black eye and bruised lip from last time.

Kevin was watching his friend, too. But not like he was planning a murder. It was more like the look he gave him when he ordered a banana, wheat, and onion smoothie. Like he knew something hilarious was gonna go down, or was happening right before his eyes. Judging by the smirk on his face, it was the first.

Kevin shook his head in amusement, following his friend out the door. They walked down the stairs, just in time to hear Ken ask Gwen: "Gwen, I know I already asked you this yesterday, but what are you wearing?" His eyes were wide as he studied his little sister in her old fashioned clothing that, quite frankly, could lead any male's imagination to places that the red headed boy was better off not thinking about. Especially when it had to do with his little sister.

The older Gwen was sitting next to her younger self on the couch and Cooper had taken a seat beside Eunice on the couch. The younger Ben was sitting in front of the TV, not paying attention to anything other than the action on the large plasma screen.

"I found it in Kevin's mom's closet," the red head answered, shrugging, completely unfazed by her brother's attitude.

"Yeah," said Kevin, letting everyone know the two teens were approaching, "And compared to some of the other stuff in there, this is pretty Catholic, if you know what I mean."

The older Ben shuddered.

"Unfortunately we do," he said, his tone signaling the end of the discussion. Kevin shrugged and took his place took his place on the couch next to his girlfriend. Ben suddenly froze at the foot of the stairs at the sight of his girlfriend in her stunning yellow sundress.

"Julie," he breathed, "You look amazing."

Julie beamed and got up to give her boyfriend a small kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ben," she said, pulling him to the couch across from where Kevin and the two Gwens were sitting. Since there was no more room, the boy had to make do with a seat on the arm rest. "Nice boxers."

The younger Gwen burst out laughing at the comment. The older Gwen was trying to contain her laughing fit, and, failing miserably, she buried her face in Kevin's shoulder. The osmosian had a wide smile on his face. The 16-year-old brunette finally understood what his friend had been smirking about.

"Ugh," he groaned, burying his face in his hands, "I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?" The hero turned to the dark teen, who had his arm wrapped around his cousin, trying to calm her down.

"No, Tennyson," Kevin agreed, the smile never disappearing from his face, "Never."

"Ugh," the older Ben groaned again. Kevin chuckled.

"What are we watching?" Eunice asked, trying to steer the conversation in any other direction than her almost-boyfriend's underwear. The older Ben flashed her a grateful smile and everyone turned to the TV to see to large men pummeling each other.

"Sumo Slammers," the younger Ben answered immediately. He had been absorbed in the TV show this whole time, that he hadn't even noticed the humiliation the blonde beauty had just saved him from.

"Not at breakfast, Ben," the older Gwen told him, reaching for the remote, "You can watch it later."

The boy immediately gasped and grabbed the remote away from her. He hugged it to his chest like a child would hug a precious toy that his mother said he had to get rid of.

"I'm right, Ben," the younger Gwen stated, crossing her arms on her chest and glaring at her cousin, "You watch that show way too much."

"But Gwen," now it was the older Ben whining, "It's Sumo Slammers!"

"Hand over the remote, kid," Kevin ordered in a nonchalant tone of voice.

"Who made you the boss?" the 11-year-old snapped at him.

"My house," said the osmosian, pointing a finger at his chest, "her rules." He pointed at the older Gwen.

The red head cocked an eyebrow at the younger version of her cousin, just daring him to defy her boyfriend. The boy sighed and handed over the remote. The girl smiled and turned the channel to MTV where Taylor Swift was singing how a guy had said that she was the best thing that had ever been his.

The older Ben seemed lost in thought for a few moments but then finally lifted his head.

"Uh oh," said Kevin, rolling his eyes, "Benji's been thinking again."

"Yeah, I have," the older Ben agreed, "And I'm thinking that you're right."

Everyone froze, wondering if the teen hero hadn't been abducted and then switched with an evil clone last night when everyone was asleep.

"He is?" Cooper finally asked, his ice blue eyes widening, "About what?"

"How if it's his house, it's Gwen's rules," the older Ben explained. Everyone unfroze.

"Ben," said Ken carefully, "Have you ever actually been in another one of Kevin's houses? By the way, how many do you have?"

"Enough," the osmosian answered simply, shrugging. The red haired boy rolled his eyes at the vague answer.

"Right, so can we eat now?" the younger Ben asked, freeing the older Ben from any other chance that he might have had to elaborate on the matter of Gwen's rules under Kevin Levin's roof.

"Well, everyone's here..." said Julie cautiously, exchanging a look with Eunice.

"Alright, we can eat," Eunice finally said.

The 11-year-old boy cheered and grabbed half the stack of pancakes, leaving everyone else to glare at him.

"This reminds me," said Kevin, taking several pancakes and stuffing a bite in his mouth, "Eunice, you gonna make those oysters for dinner tonight?"

"Well, I-"

"Kevin, we've been over this," the older Gwen interrupted her.

"And besides, Eunice is a vegetarian," Cooper added, "I don't think she actually could make them. I mean, she could, but she wouldn't."

"What makes you think that?" Eunice snapped at him defensively, glaring at the startled boy.

"Well, you're a vegetarian," Cooper said again, scratching the back of his neck, "Isn't that against the rules, or something?"

"No," Eunice told him sternly, "In fact, we're having oysters for dinner."

The older Gwen groaned and cast Cooper an angry look. The older Ben laughed and Julie was hiding her giggles behind her hand. Kevin was sitting back on the couch, a smug smile on his face. Cooper looked very confused and more than a little afraid of the annodyte.

"What's so special about oysters?" the younger Gwen asked, frowning at her older self.

The 16-year-old red head sighed and waved the comment away with her hand.

"It doesn't matter," she said at the same time the younger Ben said, "Apparently they're an afrodeshack or something."

"An aphrodisiac?" the younger Gwen suggested, frowning at the boy.

"Yeah," he said, "What is that?"

"It really doesn't matter," the 11-year-old red head said, turning back to the 17-year-old, "What I want to know is why he wants one."

The older Kevin chuckled, that smug smile never wavering from his face.

"Trust me, sweetheart," he said, "You don't want to know."

"He's right," Ken suddenly spoke up, "And I'm pretty sure none of the rest of us do either."

"So true," Julie agreed.

"Oh, yeah," said the older Ben.

"Definitely," Cooper stated.

Kevin chuckled again.

A few seconds passed in companionable silence as the teens and two kids ate the pancakes and drank orange juice.

"So Ben, what was that you were saying a moment ago?" Julie asked suddenly, turning her head to gaze at her boyfriend curiously, "You know, about Kevin and Gwen?"

"I was saying that whenever we're in his car, or house, or something, Gwen always gets to choose what we watch, do, or where we go," the older Ben explained, swallowing a large bite of pancakes, "Unless it's some alien/monster mission we have to go on."

"Seriously?" the younger Ben laughed. The osmosian looked about ready to kill both of them.

"Yeah," the older Ben answered, "I remember they used to fight about this kind of stuff, but now…"

"Tennyson, either you shut up right now," Kevin threatened, "Or I will personally make sure you can never use your vocal cords ever again."

The older Ben smiled at his friend brightly but didn't dare continue his analysis.

"Speaking of Kevin," the younger Gwen suddenly spoke up, "Shouldn't somebody bring him something to eat by now?"

"She's right," the older Gwen agreed, "He should be up by now."

"And it's not like he can call us from up there anyway," Ken spoke up.

"Especially with the music," Cooper added.

Everyone grew silent as they listened to Katy Perry's and Kanye West's duet 'E.T'.

"I'll bring him something," Julie finally said, taking the spare plate and putting some of the leftover pancakes on it. She got up and left to bring the 12-year-old his breakfast.

When she was gone, the older Kevin's eyes scrutinized Eunice. Not in a checking-her-out kind of way, but more in the what-the-heck-is-she-wearing? kind of way, like Ken had Gwen.

The blonde immediately grew uncomfortable under the osmosian's scrutiny.

"Why are you still wearing that?" he asked, frowning at the girl, "Didn't you find anything in the closet?"

"Well, no," Eunice admitted uncomfortably, "I didn't even look."

"She didn't want to take advantage of your kindness," the younger Ben snickered. His cousin, who was sitting the closest to him, hit him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing the back of his head. Everyone else ignored him.

"Eunice, Kevin Levin being kind is something you have to take advantage of," the older Gwen told her.

"Exactly," the brunette teen agreed, "And that's coming from Gwen!"

Eunice opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by Julie, who had suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs completely out of breath. Her dark eyes were wide with something similar to terror.

"Cooper," she gasped, "Come quick. I think there's something wrong with Kevin."

Everyone was out of their seats in a moment, running up the stairs. Cooper reached the younger room first. There, lying on the bed was a semi-conscious, scowling, red faced Kevin Levin. He looked like he was in pain, twisting and turning under the sheets.

The blonde teen kneeled down beside the boy and felt his forehead. A second later he lifted his head. He had a grave look on his face.

"He's got a fever," Cooper announced, "It's the wound. Somehow he got infected."

The older Gwen's eyes widened in horror and she turned away and hugged the older Kevin tightly. He wrapped his arms around the red haired girl, holding her in his tight embrace. His eyes, however wore a look of disbelief as he looked from Cooper to the younger version of himself.

"But if he has an infection," said the younger Ben cautiously, "doesn't that mean he could die?"

"That's impossible," Julie argued, "Kevin's still right here."

"Actually, he's right," said Cooper gravely, "Unless we can get our hands on some antibiotics, there's a very good chance he will die."

"Don't we have a first aid kit?" Eunice asked cautiously.

"Yeah, but there's only basic stuff in there," Cooper told her, "not the kind of medicine that he needs."

"So then we have to go get them," the older Ben said, frowning at his friend.

"Yeah," Cooper told him.

"No," the older Kevin said abruptly, his arms tightening around the red head. The girl froze and then let go of him, taking an abrupt step back and out of his arms, much to Kevin's disappointment..

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, a confused expression on her pale face, "Didn't you hear Cooper? If we don't get those antibiotics you're gonna die."

"No," the older Kevin corrected her, "If we don't get those antibiotics then I _might_ die."

"Kevin," said the annodyte, growing impatient, "Don't you remember what you said downstairs? Your house, my rules?"

She was trying to reason with him now. His resolve was fading, but an image that had been haunting him for the past few weeks suddenly appeared in front of his eyes: Gwen in his mutated arms, screaming at him to let her go, that he was hurting her. The osmosian shook his head.

"Not this time, Gwen," he breathed, "I'm not putting you in danger again."

The younger Gwen had been strangely silent throughout this whole discussion, and, unknown to everyone else, she slipped away back to her room quietly.

The 11-year-old Ben was the only one who noticed his cousin's sudden departure, and he ran after her.

"Gwen!" he yelled, just as she shut the door in his face. The boy angrily opened it again and barged in. He saw that the girl was standing at the desk pulling open a drawer.

"What was that about?" he asked, carefully closing the door and stepping inside. By now she had apparently found what she was looking for: a carefully wrapped brown package.

"What is that?" the curious boy asked once more. This question she actually bothered to answer.

"It's a gift from Paradox," Gwen explained, handing him the card. She placed the package on her bed and carefully unwrapped it, taking out a small black cat's mask and black cat suit.

"Your Lucky Girl outfit?" he asked, frowning at the black fabric in his cousin's hands. The boy's eyes suddenly widened as he realized what the girl was up to.

"Gwen, you're not gonna – I mean, you can't just – He's gonna be-" he didn't finish any of these sentences, though. The girl's determined, green eyes were boring straight into his, and he understood that nothing that he said would make her change his mind.

"Ben," she said, her voice shaking slightly, "If he's too stubborn to see that he needs those antibiotics, then I'm gonna go get them for him, whether he likes it or not."

"But, Gwen," said the 11-year-old boy, "Maybe he's right. What if the fever calms down in a few days? You'd have risked your life for nothing."

"I don't care," the red head snapped, "I'm going. Are you gonna help me, or am I gonna have to do this alone?"

The younger Ben sighed and thought about the strange situation. His cousin was gonna risk her life to save a criminal who had once tried to kill them, and that same criminal was on his death bed because he had saved her life. The whole thing was kinda ironic. The boy remembered what his older self and Ken had told him about how Kevin cared about her in the future. Apparently that was true now, too. They had, however left out the part that she cared about him, too.

The boy finally sighed and agreed.

"Alright, I'll help you," he stated, "but we're gonna need a plan…"

* * *

A/N: So, that's chapter 14! Hope you guys liked it! I know it gets a little angsty at the end and that's not my usual style of writing, but I was just feeling kinda depressed when I wrote this.

I know it's Friday the 13th, so I hope this made all of you believe that this superstition isn't real! It's been an awesome day for me, and I hope it has for you guys, too! =)

Marin Barnard I don't know why, but the site won't let me put my email address in the chapter. I'm really sorry. Can you just leave yours in a review?

Reviews make me happy, and a happy me updates faster!


	15. Chapter 15

By the time the two kids had thought of a plan to get back to Bellwood the teens were back downstairs, arguing. Well, except for Cooper, who was still with the younger Kevin, trying to find some way to help the young boy. That was the problem with adults. They didn't do, they argued. The 11-year-old Ben grimaced. He couldn't believe that he had turned into that. Gwen? Yes. Him? No way.

The older Ben was sitting on one of the couches in between Julie and Eunice, Ken was sitting in the armchair, and Gwen and Kevin were in the other couch.

"…like we have a choice," Ken was saying, "I mean, we can't just go into Bellwood, the rakari's main base, with Gwen. They'll kill us all!"

"He has a point," the older Ben agreed, "But we can't just let Kevin die either."

"How many times have I told you?" the older Kevin snapped, "I'm not gonna die!"

"When did you acquire psychic powers?" Julie snapped, "We know you want to protect Gwen, but not if it costs you your life!"

"Julie's right, Kevin," the older Gwen agreed, "We have to go."

"Unless there's something here that can help him, I agree with Gwen," said Eunice unsurely, "Is there?"

"Nothing but the first aid kit," Kevin said gruffly, "But that doesn't matter. We're not going."

"Kevin-" Gwen tried again, but the osmosian cut her off.

"Gwen, if I have to tie you to my bed and put a headband on your head that takes away your powers to stop you from going, I will," Kevin snapped at his girlfriend.

"Dude," said Ben, "Chill. We just want to help."

"Then figure out some way to do that which doesn't involve nearly killing yourselves," the dark teen growled at his best friend. Ben immediately backed off.

"Come on," the younger Ben whispered to his cousin, "Let's go."

The two crept slowly along the floor, trying not to alert the teens to their presence. Gwen was wearing her Lucky Girl outfit under her jeans and a dark button-down shirt. She had wanted to wear a sweater, but Ben had told her that would be overkill. They didn't want anyone to get suspicious.

The two kids crept into Cooper's empty room, searching for the I.D. masks.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Gwen whispered as she searched through the desk drawers.

"Yeah," said Ben, as he checked under the bed, "Cooper said he repaired them. They'll work."

"Got it!" Gwen cried, taking out two of the three masks and tossing one to her cousin. Ben caught it easily and put it in his back pocket.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked as the girl hid her mask too.

"Am I sure I want to help the guy that saved my life?" Gwen asked back, narrowing her eyes at him, "Now that I think about it, no. It really is the dumbest idea I have ever heard." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Alright, alright!" Ben snapped, motioning for his cousin to follow him out of the room.

"…staying here, then," Julie was saying, her tone grim, as the two kids walked downstairs.

"I guess so," the older Ben agreed, "But if he gets any worse, then I don't care what you say, Kevin. We're going to get help."

"Alright, Tennyson," Kevin agreed, shrugging his massive shoulders, "But in no less than three days."

"I don't like this," the older Gwen said, crossing her arms and shaking her head stubbornly.

"It's a compromise, Gwen," said the older Ben in exasperation, "Probably the best we're gonna get from a master conman."

"Where are you two going?" Eunice suddenly asked, twisting around so that she could look at the two kids. Everyone turned to look at them then.

"Um, outside?" said the younger Ben, more like it was a question, rather than an answer to one.

"Oh, really?" Kevin asked suspiciously.

"I need to clear my head," said the younger Gwen, her brows furrowed at the dark teen. He had been tensed as if though ready to stop them and force them back upstairs. "Is that okay?"

"Fine," he grumbled, turning away from the kids and letting them make a clean getaway.

"Nice one," said the younger Ben when they were outside and well beyond the hearing abilities of osmosians.

"Thanks," she said distractedly, "Now, let's go."

She took off her normal clothes so that she was in her Lucky Girl outfit, put the mask on, and muttered a time travel spell again. There was a flash of bright pink light, and then the two of them were standing in the middle of a street in Bellwood. Gwen was beginning to get nauseous. The world was spinning again. She stumbled backwards and Ben caught her.

"Whoa, you okay, Gwen?" he asked, setting her back on her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gwen promised him after regaining her balance, "I used a different spell this time. It's not as powerful as the other one."

"Why didn't you just use that one in the first place?" her oh-so-dim cousin asked her.

"Because this one can be traced," Gwen snapped, "Now, come on, the hospital's this way."

The two kids ran down the street and ducked back into alleys whenever they saw someone coming. More often than not, it was a weapon-wielding rakarus.

Finally they got to the large white building that was the hospital. There were guards at the door, one male, one female. The male was speaking to a woman who had her arms protectively around a little sobbing girl. The two kids could just barely make out what they were saying.

"You have to let us in!" the woman was crying, "She's badly hurt! My husband says that if she doesn't get those antibiotics fast, she could die!"

"I already told you," the man seethed, "No one gets in here unless they're delivering the Tennyson girl."

"But-"

"Hey, Blondie," the woman snapped, "He said no. Now go home before we make your husband's prediction come true."

The woman's eyes widened and she turned and took the little girl away.

"Was that really necessary?" the male snapped at the other rakarus, "I had everything under control!"

"Not from where I was standing," the female snapped back, "You know how humans are – whiny as hell."

"Still, I could've handled it," the man hissed at her, his hands tightening around the weapon, "You don't have to butt in all the time, Sintyana!"

"Oh, I'm the one butting in?" Sintyana snapped back, "I'm not the one who lost his opportunity to rid the universe of that creature that calls herself an annodyte because of an appoplexian!"

"No," the male agreed. Both of them were yelling in each other's faces and poised for a fight. "You lost her because of a 12-year-old osmosian!"

Sintyana let out an animal-like snarl and jumped for the guy's throat, completely forgetting her weapons. The two of them tumbled down the front steps leading up to the hospital's front door and rolled somewhere far off.

"Let's go!" Ben whispered and put his ID mask on. In a few seconds he was transformed into a rakarus. Gwen followed his lead and put hers on, too. She turned into one as well. The two kids ran up the steps and into the hospital.

There was no one to notice them in the reception area, so they quickly made their way to the nearest hallway.

"I'll keep guard, you find the medicine," Ben instructed her.

"Antibiotics, Ben," Gwen corrected him.

"Whatever!" the boy yelled and took off down the hallway with the red head hot on his heels. The girl tried one of the doors in the long corridor while her cousin stood patiently outside, waiting for her to find the antibiotics. The door was locked!

"Damn it!" Gwen hissed. Her cousin looked back at her with a shocked look on his face. It was a testament to how upset she was that Gwen was swearing in the middle of a crisis. Or would-be crisis, anyway.

The girl ignored the look her cousin was giving her and went across the hall to check in the other room. Locked again!

The 10-year-old was becoming more and more aggravated by the second. Was it possible that every single room in the hospital was locked? No, that would be impossible. They had to put all the patients somewhere, didn't they? Then she remembered the woman and her daughter out in front of the hospital. No, they really didn't. All these monsters wanted was her. They didn't care about anyone else. Of course, why bother with the helpless, fragile, sick humans? With a pang of guilt she realized that that was how she used to believe Kevin's mind worked, back before he started saving her life. The girl made a mental note to figure out how to make it up to the osmosian once she had saved his life.

But back to the present. Well, she obviously couldn't just try every single door in the building! Summoning up all her energy, the girl closed her eyes, concentrating on the doors of the hospital as hard as she could. When she opened them, it was like she was staring through pink night-vision goggles or something. She could tell which doors were locked and which were open. All the power she felt was exhilarating. Why didn't she do this all the time?

"Gwen!" her cousin's obnoxious voice interrupted her thoughts. Her vision turned normal and she turned back to glare at him.

"What?" the red haired girl snapped.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a worried look in his now strange black eyes, "You started glowing… pink."

"I did?" she asked in a worried voice, but then shook her head, "It must've had something to do with the spell. I think I know which doors are locked and which are open. Come on!"

The two kids tore down the hall again until they arrived at a door which looked no different than any other.

"Are you sure this is it?" Ben asked, frowning at the girl.

"No," she admitted, "But it's open, and that's a start."

Gwen slowly turned the dolor handle and-

"Where's my granddaughter?" the voice of the man who the two kids would've recognized anywhere asked. Under any other circumstances, Gwen would've been thrilled to see her grandfather, but not when he was pointing a gun straight at her forehead.

"I-I-" she stuttered, trying to find the right words.

"Don't even bother trying to say that you don't know," Max sneered, "I'll pull the trigger if I have to. Where's Gwen?"

"She's standing right in front of you, Grandpa," came Ben's soft reply from behind her. The boy stepped out from behind her as his human self.

"Ben?" Grandpa Max asked, taking his eyes off Gwen for a split second, "What are you doing here? And what do you mean, she's right in front of me? The only thing I see here is-" He cut himself off as his beloved granddaughter took off her mask and turned back to her normal self.

"Hi Grandpa Max," she said, smiling guiltily.

"Oh," said Max, lowering his gun, "Sorry, kids. Didn't expect to see you here."

"It's okay, Grandpa," said Ben, shrugging like seeing his cousin held at gunpoint by their grandfather was an everyday thing for him.

"But what are you doing here?" Max asked, sitting back in the chair. The room they were in was some kind of doctor's office. Neither of them had checked before they burst in.

"It's Kevin," Gwen explained, "The younger one. He got hurt because of me and now he needs antibiotics, or else he's gonna die!"

"Calm down, sweetheart," said Max, gently stroking her hair as the girl fell into a near-hysteria, "Where's everybody else?"

"They stayed behind," Ben answered curtly.

"You mean you didn't tell them?" the elderly Plumber asked, cocking his eyebrow at his favorite grandson.

"Well, no," said the younger Ben, scratching the back of his neck, "But for once, I can honestly say that it's not my fault. This was all Gwen's idea. She's the one who wanted to help Kevin!"

"And I would be disappointed if she didn't," Max said, in a tone of voice that signaled the end of their discussion, "I know how stubborn Kevin can be. He didn't want you to risk your lives trying to save him, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?" Ben asked, an incredulous look on his face.

"That's not what's important right now," said Grandpa Max, shaking his head, a slight frown on his face. He knew Ben was suspicious of the teen, no matter what happened. Gwen was the one who always forgave him for everything at a moment's notice and only saw the good in him, not Ben.

"Grandpa's right," said Gwen distractedly, already looking through various drawers and on top of the shelves, "we need to find those antibiotics. Anything else can wait."

"Well, you won't find them here, sweetheart," Max said grimly, "The rakari took everything."

"Everything?" Gwen repeated in disbelief, halting her search for the antibiotics that were clearly not there anymore.

"Yes," the old man confirmed, "You're gonna have to go to their warehouse if you want to help Kevin."

"_We're_ gonna have to go?" Ben repeated, "Aren't you coming with us, Grandpa?"

"I wish I could, Ben," said the retired Plumber, "But my help is needed back home. Those monsters are after ours and Kevin's families, and I need to help them."

"Where is the warehouse?" Gwen asked, frowning at him. She wasn't discouraged by her grandfather's words. They didn't even faze her! Ben was surprised at the girl. She was usually focused, but when it came to the family, Gwen was the first one into battle.

Max was used to his favorite granddaughter's attitude, though. He knew that the girl would do anything for Kevin, no matter how dangerous it was. At least, now she would. It was clear, though, that Ben wasn't used to it. He would have to put the boy's mind at ease somehow.

"Why don't you kids come back to the house?" he said, his eyes on Ben, "You kids will need some help to get there, and I know just who to call."

"No, just tell us where it is, we'll find it," Gwen interjected, already half-way out the door. Ben grabbed her arm.

"Grandpa's right," he told her, "Look, I know you want to help Kevin, but we're gonna need back up. You know how dangerous those things are."

The red head hesitated. She wanted to help Kevin, but she knew that this was one of those rare moments that Ben was right. They did need help. If the rakari put guards at a completely abandoned building just to make people think that it was inhibited with the things that they needed – whether they were bandages, cough medicine, or antibiotics – then who knew what was waiting for them at the warehouse, where the things that they needed actually were stored? The young girl sighed. She had never been very patient, and she wasn't about to start now. But, for once, Ben was right – if she wanted to help the young osmosian, she'd have to wait.

"Fine," she snapped. Ben let go of her arm.

"Good girl," said Max approvingly, suddenly appearing behind the 11-year-old boy's shoulder and smiling down at his cousin. The girl smiled a small smile back and then turned back to the door.

As soon as the door opened, the red head found herself face-to-face with the barrel of a gun for the second time in five minutes.

"Oh come on!" Ben snapped from behind her, too annoyed to be terrified.

The female rakarus, Sintyana, was smiling madly as she pointed her weapon at the kids and their grandfather.

"Game over, kids," she hissed, the mad smile never leaving her face.

Back at Kevin's house, the teens were sitting in the living room, completely oblivious to what was going on a few miles back. No one was really too thrilled about the arrangement the older Ben had worked out with the 17-year-old Kevin. Especially not Kevin. He was hoping that at any moment Cooper's voice would float down from upstairs, telling them that everything was fine, and the younger Kevin would live. No such luck.

Beside him the older Gwen was channel surfing, not really paying attention to anything that was on. Was Kevin really so stupid that he would let himself die, just to protect her? No, he wasn't stupid. He just cared about her that much. The girl sighed in exasperation. Kevin never threatened her unless he was worried about her. She knew the theory that people were harsh with you because they loved you. With Kevin, it was hardly ever true. He was gentle and loving most of the time, but in situations like this… she didn't doubt that he actually would tie her to the bed to keep her from leaving. So, she now had a new mission: manipulate the master into doing exactly what he had forbidden her to do. Yeah, way easier said than done.

"Kevin?" she spoke up suddenly, tucking her head into the crook of his neck, trying to play innocent. The dark teen wrapped his arms around her protectively, recognizing her voice as the 'I'm-terrified-and-I-need-you-to-make-me-feel-better' one.

"Yeah, beautiful?" Kevin murmured into her flame-red hair.

"I'm scared," she informed him. Ken scoffed in the arm chair while everyone else turned to look at the two of them. Everyone knew what the girl was doing. Well, except, of course, the osmosian who supposedly knew her better than anyone else. Besides, watching Gwen try to manipulate her boyfriend was way more interesting than the cooking show she had stopped at, where a man was teaching you how to make some world-famous soup, or something.

"About what?" Kevin asked, pulling the red head into his lap.

"The kids," she said, "Well, the younger me and Ben. I want to go look for them. What if the rakari find them?"

"Don't worry, babe," Kevin said gently, "Soon as we got here, I set up an alarm. If any alien life forms get within 10 miles of this place, we'll know."

"Oh," said Gwen, disappointed that her plan hadn't worked.

"Feel better now?" he asked.

"Sure," she said distractedly, trying to come up with a new plan.

Kevin smirked, catching onto what the girl was doing, or, well, trying to do. In the space of one second, he had lifted the girl from the couch and was carrying her upstairs.

"Kevin!" she yelled, squirming in her boyfriend's strong arms.

"Man, he's good," said Ken, once the door to their bedroom had shut behind the two teens.

Inside the room Kevin threw Gwen on the bed and got on top of her, immediately planting his soft lips on hers, his calloused hands bracing him on the mattress. Before she knew what she was doing, Gwen's fingers were tangled in his hair, clutching him closer. She didn't even notice that he had pulled off her shirt until his warm hands were stroking her sides. One of the advantages of button downs was that you didn't need to break the kiss to remove them.

Kevin's mouth moved from her jaw, trailing all the way to her ear. His hands wrapped around her, clutching her closer so that her back arched against him.

"Never try to manipulate me, Gwen," he breathed.

Gwen gasped as he bit down on her earlobe, going limp in his arms in a matter of seconds.

"What are you talking about?" she choked out, her fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. At the moment she honestly couldn't concentrate on a word he was saying, no matter how hard she tried.

Kevin chuckled as he took her hands away from his shirt.

"Don't even think about it," he muttered, pinning them up over her head, just like they had done this morning.

This morning, when everything had still been fine…

Gwen's lips stopped moving against his immediately. Kevin frowned and pulled away.

"What's up?" he asked, not moving an inch. He was straddling the girl, and she was pinned helplessly to the bed. While Kevin had the advantage here, it seemed like Gwen's glare could quickly change that.

"Stop trying to distract me," she told him, glaring defiantly up into his gorgeous obsidian eyes.

"Distract you from what?" Kevin asked, a sarcastic sneer appearing on his mouth, "The horrible fear you have about what could be going on with the kids? Or from the plan you were forming to try and get me to agree to go after those antibiotics?"

"Let me go, Kevin," Gwen ordered him, squirming against his vice-like grip again.

"No chance, Gwen," Kevin told her, "Ben already made me agree to going after those things in three days. I'm not backing down any more."

The girl's eyes filled up with tears.

"Would you really give up all of this?" she asked. Kevin hesitated and let her go so that she could sit up. "Would you really give up _me_?"

"If it means keeping you safe, then yeah," he breathed, his lips just an inch from hers "I would."

"You are such an idiot," she told him, stroking his arms.

Kevin smirked.

"And that's why you love me," he reminded her, kissing her again.

Gwen let him push her back down onto the bed. His shirt was off in a matter of moments. Gwen was lost in the bliss of the kiss again, instantly forgetting what they had been talking about. All she wanted was to be able to remain in Kevin's arms for the rest of eternity…

"AH!" a loud voice suddenly interrupted them. It had come from across the hall.

They were off the bad and dressed again in a matter of moments, running across the hall to the younger Kevin's room. The 12-year-old was awake, pain clearly visible in his dark eyes. His face was red as a tomato, and the sight might have been almost comical, if it hadn't been so horrible.

"What happened?" Gwen asked, running over to stand beside Cooper, "Is he alright?"

"Yes, he just woke up," Cooper told her, "He needs pain killers."

The red head turned back to her boyfriend, her emerald green eyes pleading.

"No, Gwen," he told her, shaking his head.

Tears gathered in the girl's eyes again.

"Where…is…she?" the younger Kevin managed to get out, his eyes boring into his older self's.

"Where is who?" Gwen asked, unlike the dark teen, totally confused.

"Gwen," the two Kevins said at the same time.

"She's safe," the older Kevin told him, "She went outside."

At that moment the four other teens burst in.

"What happened?" Ben asked, "We heard someone scream."

"Kevin's up," Cooper explained, turning to the teens, "Does anyone have a tranquilizer or something?"

"Isn't there one in the first aid kit?" Eunice asked.

"No, Eunice," Julie told her friend, "Tranquilizers aren't meant for first aid."

"Don't you have something in your car?" Ben asked the older Kevin.

"I don't think so," the teen said, shaking his head again.

"Well, is there anything else we can do to help him?" Ken asked, looking at the blonde boy with concern in his eyes. He knew how much Gwen cared about Kevin. He also knew that if he died, the whole future could have drastic consequences. You really had to care about someone if you were willing to let yourself die, just to keep them safe.

"You're all idiots!" the younger Kevin suddenly growled, the words sounding like they were being ripped from his very being.

"What?" Julie asked. Everyone was staring at the boy in surprise.

"They went…to get…the medicine!" he explained, falling back against the pillows. Saying just those few words had taken a lot out of him, and he didn't want to have to repeat that.

The 17-year-old Kevin was staring down at his younger self in horror, realizing that he was right. That was exactly what Ben and Gwen would do.

Cooper was having a similar reaction, but the two Tennyson cousins were exchanging relieved looks. Kevin was their friend, and they were glad that if he didn't want to help himself, at least someone was taking the task of having to knock him out and steal his car off their hands.

Ken just stood there looking dumbfounded, while the two other teenage girls were smiling. They were almost as happy as Gwen and Ben that the osmosian was gonna be okay.

"We have to go get them," the older Kevin muttered and turned back for the door. A thick band of pink energy wrapped around his waist, keeping him from going anywhere.

"Don't even think about it, Kevin," his girlfriend said, a devious smile on her face, "If you're not gonna help yourself-"

"We are," her cousin finished for her, that same smile on his face.

"I just hope they're okay," Eunice murmured as they all went downstairs, feeling better than they had in the past hour.

Cooper stayed upstairs with his patient.

"You're not gonna do anything either?" the 12-year-old breathed, already exhausted.

"No, I can't," Cooper told him.

"Don't you care about her?" he asked, reminding Cooper what he had accused the older Kevin of a couple of nights ago. Only the difference this time was that he couldn't just punch the boy if he felt like it. Not only would that be completely wrong, but that would also be too much like Kevin and he knew Gwen wouldn't like that.

"Yeah, I do," Cooper told him, "And she cares about you. If she didn't, then she would've stayed here for those three days watching you suffer."

"She's too much of a…goody-goody to do that to anyone," the osmosian said before sinking back into a painful and light sleep.

Downstairs everyone was overjoyed. Kevin was gonna live! No one had any doubt that the two kids would succeed. They did wish that they had been in on the plan, though, so that they could help out too. But no. It was better this way.

"Cheer up, Kev," said Ben, smiling at his seething friend, who was tied down to the couch with Gwen in his lap for extra measure, "You're gonna live!"

"Yeah," the dark teen allowed, "But Gwen might die."

"Oh, come on," said the bearer of the Omnitrix, "I'm with her." Ben said it like it automatically meant that nothing bad would happen to her.

"Yeah," said Kevin, rolling his eyes, "That's what I'm worried about."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can make those oysters for dinner," Eunice offered, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. She, Ben, sand Julie were sitting on the couch across from the couple and Ken was back in his arm chair.

"Oh come on, Eunice!" Ben whined, "Don't do it! Please!"

The three girls laughed at Ben's childish behavior. Even Ken and Kevin cracked a smile. After everyone was quiet, Ken spoke up.

"Do you think they're gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Julie, flashing the red haired boy a winning smile, "It's Ben and Gwen. Of course they are."

"I hope you're right," Ken muttered.

"Well, what happens, happens," said Ben, "If they need help, they'll find some way to get in touch with us. But right now, let's focus on what's really important – Gwen, can we _please_ watch something else?"

"Fine," the red head agreed and switched the channel to–

"TWILIGHT!" Julie squealed.

"Ugh," the three guys groaned. Gwen smirked and sat back in her boyfriend's embrace, clearly enjoying everyone's discomfort.

"What is this movie?" Eunice asked, frowning as the scene where Robert Pattinson was telling Kristen Stewart he's a vampire unfolded before her eyes.

"You mean you've never seen Twilight?" Ben asked in shock.

"I thought there was some kind of rule where all girls had to have seen that movie at least once," Ken said, staring at the girl just like her cousin and his friend were doing.

"Well, I haven't exactly been on Earth very long," Eunice reminded him.

"Well, then it's about time you saw it," said Julie, "Ben, can you get us some popcorn?"

"Gladly," said the brunette teen, shooting out of the chair faster than he would've if he'd seen a Sumo wrestler at the door.

"I don't know what you see in that guy," Kevin said to Gwen, pointing at the screen at Robert.

"Robert Pattinson?" Julie asked, her eyes wide, "Are you kidding me? He's like the hottest guy in the universe!"

"Hey!" Ben called from the kitchen.

"Sorry, Ben, but it's true," said Julie, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Vampires are romantic," said Gwen, repeating the words she had said just before they'd met Jennifer Nocturne.

"I figured you'd be off vampires after you-know-who," Kevin said, frowning as the two actors lay down in the meadow.

"And I figured you'd love vampires after you-know-who," Gwen shot back. She really loved this movie, and didn't want Kevin to ruin it. Although bad-mouthing Robert Pattinson would make him lighten up about the whole her running off to get the antibiotics and lying to him five years ago.

"When there's a hot vampire chick, then yeah," Kevin told her.

"Hey!" Julie suddenly snapped, "If you two don't mind, some of us are trying to watch, and we could really do without the commentary."

"Sorry, Julie," said Gwen, flashing her friend an apologetic smile. Kevin just rolled his eyes.

"You can't take us all with only one gun," the younger Ben pointed out, pointing at the gun in Sintyana's hands.

"I don't have to," the rakarus sneered, the gun not moving an inch from where it was pointed at the 11-year-old girl's chest, "You won't let her get killed, anyway."

At that moment something inside the red head snapped. No one was really sure how it happened, but somehow the rakarus ended up on her back on the floor in the middle of the hallway with Gwen pointing the gun at her.

"Look," she snapped, "We're in a hurry. We need those antibiotics."

"For what?" the creature sneered at her, "Just in case?"

The annodyte jabbed the weapon in the alien's chest.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," she hissed, "Just take me to the antibiotics, or else I'm gonna have to shoot a hole in your head. So, which is it?"

Sintyana's initial reaction would have been to say that the girl didn't have the guts. That she probably didn't even know how to work the gun. That all changed when she saw her eyes. There was something in there that made her rethink that. It wasn't desperation, exactly, but something similar. Suddenly she understood.

"It's that boy, isn't it?" she asked, "The osmosian? He's the one who got hurt."

Gwen didn't respond. Sintyana took that as a yes. She wanted to laugh at the girl, but didn't dare. After all, the girl still had a gun pointed at her.

"Fine, I'll take you to them," she agreed, and slowly got up.

"Gwen," Ben whispered, tugging on the sleeve of his cousin's outfit, "We need back up, remember?"

"Time to improvise," she whispered back.

"Kids, I'm not sure this is-" Grandpa Max started.

"We'll be fine," Ben interrupted him, "Just make sure you have a getaway car ready for us."

"Alright," said Max, "But be careful. I trust you two."

"What a nice grandfather," the rakarus sneered, "I wonder why he didn't come with you."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Ben asked his cousin, ignoring the alien, as they made their way out of the hospital.

"No," she admitted, "But what choice do we have? Let her go back and blab that the girl everyone's looking for is in town to her superiors?"

"You've got a point," the boy admitted.

The two of them put their masks on again, and Gwen kept the weapon close to her side, trying to look natural as they walked down the streets.

It took them less than five minutes to arrive at their destination – Mr. Smoothie's.

"This is where they're keeping everything?" Ben asked incredulously, "Are you guys playing, or are you just that dumb?"

"Say what you want," Sintyana snapped back at him from the alley they were hiding in, "But its basements are huge."

"Oh," the 11-year-old said, feeling a little stupid now. Gwen resisted the urge to hit him in the head.

"How do we get in?" she asked Sintyana.

"Forget it," the rakarus snapped, "I showed you where it is, so now you've gotta let me go."

"No chance!" the brunette boy disguised as an alien snapped at her, "Not until we're safe!"

"Well, if you wanted to be safe, then you shouldn't have come here!" she snapped back.

"Both of you, shut up!" Gwen whisper-screamed, glaring at them both, "Sintyana, just tell us how to get in, and Ben, you stay out here and make sure she doesn't try to run away."

"You're going in alone?" Sintyana asked, surprise lining her strange purple and silver face. It was clear that there wasn't much that caught rakari off guard. Apparently, young girls risking their lives qualified.

"Yes," said Gwen, handing the weapon over to her cousin, "And just to warn you, he's a lot more reckless than me, so don't make him mad."

"I'll keep that in mind," the alien sneered, "There's a code to get in there. It's 74387183726. The guards, though? You might want to take the gun."

"Thanks for the tip," said Gwen as her cousin handed over the gun. He didn't need it, anyway. If Sintyana tried anything, he'd just go Four Arms on her.

The red head slowly headed for the door, watching to see if there was anyone who wanted to kill or otherwise harm her. There wasn't.

She typed in the code and the door opened slowly, letting her in. She immediately saw two guards standing at a nearby door. They raised their guns at her as soon as she entered, pointing them at the girl.

"Who are you?" one of them snapped at her.

"Um…my name is…um…" she tried to think of a name that would seem believable to them.

"Um?" one of the guards asked, "Umolise?"

"Yeah," she said, grateful for the answer. She had always thought that Ben was a freak for giving his aliens such strange names, but then again, all aliens had strange names. These guys were proof enough.

"What are you doing here?" the other guard asked, "Is something wrong with him?"

"I need the antibiotics," Gwen said, ignoring the last part mainly because she had no idea who 'he' was.

The guards exchanged looks and then one of them nodded at the other. He disappeared through the doorway.

"I could've just gone myself," Gwen told the remaining guard.

"You wouldn't know where to look," he said dismissively.

Gwen was taken aback. She knew that she could find the antibiotics just as easily as she had found the unlocked door. But then, how would she explain it to them? Right, better to keep her mouth shut. She suddenly remembered how Sintyana had done the other guard a favor by sending the woman and her daughter away. He had been insulted by that little act of semi-kindness. Grandma Verdona's words rang in her ears: _They treat everything like an invitation to war._

"I would've been fine," she snapped at the guard.

"Hey!" he snapped, clearly unnerved by this, "Are you here to pick a fight, or are you here to get those antibiotics?"

At that moment the door opened and the other guard stepped through. Gwen scowled at them both and took the briefcase he was carrying.

"Thank you," she hissed, startling herself at how much she sounded like a rakarus. The girl turned on her heel and left.

When she was outside, she saw Ben as Xlr8 propping himself up on his elbows as he tried to get up on the sidewalk. There was a brown haired boy helping him up. He was dressed in a squire's outfit, like the younger Forever Knights had.

"What happened?" she asked, rushing over.

"That's no business of yours, filthy creature," the teen snapped, turning his blue eyed gaze up to meet Gwen's. Surprise was written all over the younger girl's face.

"Chill, that's Gwen," Xlr8 rasped, "Gwen, this is Winston. Grandpa Max sent him here to help."

"He sent a Forever Knight to help us?" she asked incredulously.

"Squire," Winston corrected her, getting up as well and holding his hand out for hers, "And do forgive me, Gwen. I didn't know it was you."

"That's okay," she said, the confused look still on her face, "Where's Sintyana?"

"She ran as soon as the car pulled up," her cousin answered, turning back to his usual human self, "What happened? Did you get the meds?"

"Antibiotics, and yes, I did," she said, "But we need to get out of here. I hope Kevin's not worse."

"Kevin?" Winston repeated, "I figured he wouldn't want you to get into danger. After what happened with the lucubra-"

"The what?" Ben asked.

"Never mind," the squire said, taking the case from the girl, "We need to go. I'm sure everyone's worried about you."

"Wait, you're taking us back?" the red head asked.

"Of course," he confirmed, "No one wants you to have to do that transportation spell again."

"Right," said Ben, "So, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!"

"Hey!" another voice at the end of the alley called, "What are you three doing?"

"Run," breathed Gwen, and they ran to one of the few parked cars across the street. It was a brown, sleek old-fashioned convertible. Figures. Only the best for the Knights. Guns were fired behind them, narrowly missing the three humans.

Winston threw open the door to the front seat, and all three of them jumped in. He turned the ignition on and drove as fast as he could, while Gwen and Ben untangled themselves from each other, Gwen losing her mask somewhere along the way. She climbed into the backseat and looked back to see five rakari running after them as fast as they could.

"AHH!" she squealed as various bullets hit the back window.

"We need to lose them!" Ben yelled at the teen.

"You don't think I'm trying?" Winston barked, turning the wheel sharply, "Unfortunately, they don't teach us driver's ed in the Forever Knights!"

"Well, they should!" Gwen snapped, "You suck!"

"You've been letting Kevin chauffeur you around for too long," Winston muttered. The 11-year-olds decided not to point out that Kevin hadn't been 'chauffeuring' them around at all.

The rakari were getting closer.

"Open the window!" the red head yelled.

"Are you out of your mind?" the teen snapped.

"Just do it!" the girl ordered him. Winston doubtfully pressed the button to lower the window.

"Be careful," Ben told her. She just barely caught the words and nodded in response before leaning out the window. A bullet was fired at her almost immediately. It missed by a millimeter.

Gwen sighed and yelled a spell as loud as se could. Two trees started to grow closer to each other like magic. Their branches entwined, forming first a net and then a wall, separating the car from the approaching creatures.

"Whoa," said Ben. The car was leaving Bellwood by now, weaving through the road, getting closer and closer to Kevin's cabin.

"Aw!" Julie cried, just as the ending credits replaced Victoria on the flat screen TV. She and Eunice were clutching each other, tears running down the blonde's face. Neither girl noticed that they were leaning over Ben, who was trapped in a very uncomfortable position beneath them. On the couch across them, Kevin was asleep, the manna that Gwen had wound around him – gone. About 45 minutes ago, Cooper had come downstairs. He was now sitting on the other side of the red head, one arm around her shoulders. She had been too absorbed in the movie to notice. Her brother had his cheek cupped in his hand, pretty much bored with the chick flick.

"That was…the best movie…ever!" Eunice cried.

"I know," Gwen agreed, pushing Cooper's arm off her, "Don't you think so, Kevin? Kevin?"

"Whoa, what?" the dark teen cried, snapping out of his sleep.

"You slept through the movie," she said, an annoyed look on her beautiful face.

"I did not!" Kevin cried defiantly, sitting up.

"Yeah, man, you did," said Ben, pushing the two girls away so that he could see his friend, "Eunice, can we get some food?"

"Who do you think I am? Bella?" the blonde snapped at the brunette, making his eyes widen in surprise.

"Well, no," Cooper said, flashing her a smile, "But we're not vampires, we still need to eat. And you are the best cook."

Eunice smiled back at him shyly.

"Okay, but I don't feel like making oysters," she said, "How about pizza?"

"Yes!" Ben cried. Eunice rolled her eyes and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Nice," Kevin chuckled at Cooper once the girl was out of earshot, "Next time, put that with 'you're as pretty as Rosalie' and she'll be eating out of the palm of your hand."

Gwen raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend. His eyes widened as he realized what he had just said, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"So, you like Rosalie?" Julie asked him, a slight smirk on her face.

"Nah," Kevin said, smiling at the Japanese-American gratefully, "Victoria."

"Isn't she the bad guy?" Ken asked, finally joining in the conversation.

"Yeah," the dark teen admitted, "But she's also the only red head in the movie."

"Technically, she's a blonde," Gwen said, curling back into Kevin's side.

"Yeah," he said again, "But she's supposed to be a red head."

"How sweet," said Gwen, leaning up to meet her lips with Kevin's.

"Ugh," Ben groaned, "Now I wish that I was the one who was upstairs on his death bed."

"Ben, that's mean," Julie scolded him.

"Hey, is that a car?" Eunice suddenly called from the kitchen, pointing at the approaching headlights. Everyone turned to where she was pointing.

"Is that-?" Gwen cut herself off, afraid to finish her sentence.

"No," Kevin told her, shaking his head, "We would've heard the alarm."

"Then who?" Cooper asked.

"The kids?" Ben suggested.

"Where would they get a car?" Gwen pointed out.

"Grandpa Max taught me how to drive, remember?" Ben asked.

"His driving's too good," Kevin stated, shaking his head, "Not that much of a difference, but still."

"But who, then?" Julie asked.

The car pulled up, and Ben, Gwen and Kevin went outside to greet whoever it was. The front door opened, and out of it stepped-

"Winston!" Gwen cried, throwing her arms around the squire's neck.

"Hello, Gwen," he said, smiling as he hugged the girl back.

Behind them, Kevin crossed his arms and his eyes took on that ice cold look they did whenever he saw Gwen talking to another guy who wasn't related to her and didn't have a girlfriend. Ben looked immensely relieved that it wasn't an alien trying to kill them. The two younger kids stepped out from the car, and froze at the sight of the two embracing teens.

"Great," said the younger Ben sarcastically, "Gwen's in love with the Forever Knights' squire."

"Shut up," his cousin hissed at him.

"Good to see you again," said the older Ben, shaking hands with the British boy.

"You as well, Ben," Winston told him, "I am sorry I didn't call ahead to notify you, but there wasn't time, and the car hasn't got a phone."

"It's alright," said Ben as Kevin stepped forward, pushing Gwen behind him. The girl smiled a half-smile and rolled her eyes at the raven haired teen's predictability.

"You got the stuff?" he asked Winston. The squire nodded and reached back inside the car to take out the briefcase. He handed it over to Kevin, who opened it and studied the antibiotics.

"Cooper!" the 17-year-old shouted at the house. The door opened and the blonde boy stepped outside. When he noticed the other brunette and how Kevin was shielding Gwen from him, he frowned. Who was this guy?

"These the ones?" Kevin asked, handing over the case.

"Yeah," he said after studying the contents for a moment.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" the younger Gwen exclaimed.

"Right, sorry," said Cooper, rushing back into the house.

"So, Winston, what are you doing here?" Ben asked.

"Your grandfather asked me to bring you back home.

"Max Tennyson trusted you to bring his grandkids back here?" Kevin asked incredulously.

"Kevin!" the older Gwen cried, stepping out from behind the dark teen and shoving him back, "I am so sorry about him, Winston."

"Oh, it's no problem," the teen laughed, a sincere smile spreading across his face, "You were even more rude back in Bellwood."

"Really?" Gwen asked, the amused smile never wavering.

"Hang on a sec," the younger Ben interrupted them, "We save Kevin Levin's life, and you flirt with the guy who doesn't even know how to drive?"

"For once, I agree with him," said Kevin, glaring at his girlfriend.

"That's life," said the older Ben, "And I don't mean to sound like Ken, but, Gwen, what are you wearing?"

"My Lucky Girl outfit," the younger red head replied, "Paradox left it for me."

"Oh, that reminds me," said Winston, reaching back into the car to pull out another package, "your grandmother wanted me to give this to you and Kevin." He handed the package to the older Gwen.

"Thanks!" she cried, "Come on, let's go open it." The girl took her boyfriend's hand and dragged him back into the house.

"Well, that was strange," said the younger Gwen, putting her hands on her hips.

"That's Gwen and Kevin," said the older Ben, shrugging his shoulders, "Eunice has got dinner in the microwave. Let's go eat."

A/N: I am so sorry it took so long. I know you were all expecting me to update on Saturday or Sunday, but I didn't have time. I know you guys probably hate me, and I am so sorry! Thank you so much for the many, many, many reviews, though! You're the best! I'll try to update sooner this time. R&R!

I wasn't really sure about adding Twilight to the story, and I'm still not sure. What do you think?


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews, guys! I can't believe I've already got over 140!

There is not only a lot of Gwevin in this chapter, but also, Benlie!

Thank you, MasenLakin, for the idea of adding Kai and Ship to the story, and the older Gwen's Lucky Girl outfit, too. All your ideas are awesome! I can't wait to read your story.

Marin Barnard, try this email address: s.c.a.r.l.e.t.t.r.o.s.e.p.e.t.a.l.9.8..g.m.a.i.l.c.o.m. I already tried sending you an email to the address I got off your profile, but I'm guessing you didn't get it.

Now, without further ado, here's chapter 16!

* * *

The two brunette teens, along with the two younger cousins, stepped inside. They saw Julie and Ken sitting in the living room watching another movie. Eunice was in the kitchen heating the pizzas.

"Is there anything Grandma Verdona and Grandpa Max didn't pack for us?" the older Ben asked her, a slight smile on his face.

Eunice flashed him a smile.

"I don't think so," she answered, the slightest hint of humor in her voice, "Except for maybe a waterbed."

"You know what?" said the younger Ben, "You're right! What if we need a waterbed? I want a waterbed!" The stress of the situation he and his cousin had just been in was catching up to him and making him hysterical. Or near it, anyway.

"I think Kevin's got one somewhere in this place," said Ken, smirking at the TV, "Why don't you go ask him?"

"Good idea!" the 11-year-old boy cried.

Ken's smirk widened as the brunette kid started heading towards the stairs. Gwen suddenly grabbed his arm.

"I wouldn't do that," she said, yanking him back, "This is Kevin Levin we're talking about, remember?"

"Oh, right," the bearer of the Omnitrix said, a slight trace of fear in his emerald green eyes.

"It's too bad we had to leave the clothes Verdona sent us back at the hotel, though," said Julie, returning back to the previous topic and looking up from the movie, "Some of them were actually pretty nice."

"You mean like that lime green mini dress?" the older Ben asked his girlfriend, smiling teasingly as he sat down on the couch across from her. Winston sat down next to him awkwardly. It was clear he didn't know what to do or say. "Oh, yeah. That one was _very_ nice."

Julie threw a pillow at the brunette hero, which he caught easily.

"Who's this?" Ken asked, nudging his chin in the direction of Winston.

"I am Winston," the blue-eyed boy answered, "The Forever Knights' squire. Your grandparents sent me to help protect your sister."

"Join the club," Ken smirked.

"What?" the squire asked, surprise evident on his face.

"He means that's what we're all here for," the older Ben explained.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and see if Cooper needs any help with Kevin," the younger Gwen announced and started heading up the wooden stairs.

"Thanks for going after those antibiotics," the older Ben said to his younger self when the 11-year-old red head was out of earshot, "You saved us a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean?" the young boy asked, sitting down on the arm of the couch next to Winston.

"Well," said Julie, "If you hadn't, we would've had to tie up Kevin and steal his car to go get them."

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Winston asked, "I mean, he's your friend."

"And that's exactly why we would," the older Ben told him.

"Sir Reginald is right," Winston murmured, "Aliens are strange."

"Um, we're all human here," Ken pointed out.

"Really?" Winston asked, surprised.

"Yeah," the younger Ben told him, "Except for Kevin, Gwen, and Eunice."

"And Cooper, too, I think," Eunice added, coming back to the living room with a plate of pizza in each hand, "Sorry, but there weren't any toppings."

"That's okay," said the older Ben, taking a plate from her and blowing on it. Julie took the other plate and the blonde went back into the kitchen.

"So, what are we watching?" the younger Ben asked, turning his full attention to the TV screen.

"Pirates of the Caribbean," Julie answered.

"Awesome!" the 11-year-old cried, just as Eunice came back with more pizza. He pumped his fist in the air and accidentally hit the plate, causing the pizza to fall on the girl's clothes.

"Ben!" she cried, setting the other plate down on the coffee table.

"Oh dear!" Winston cried and got up and rushed to the kitchen to get the girl a towel.

"Are you alright?" the teenage Ben asked, just as his girlfriend rushed over to her friend, "Wasn't that, like, boiling hot?"

"Yes, Ben, it was!" Eunice cried, a little annoyed, but mostly mortified. She took the towel from Winston and cleaned off most of the pizza from her shirt. The heated piece of food and the plate had dropped down onto the floor. The plate broke, the pieces scattering all over the floor.

"Jeez, sorry," said the younger Ben, looking at her briefly before turning back to the TV screen.

Everyone turned to look at him in shock. He had just dumped a hot pizza on an equally hot blonde, and all he could say was an obviously fake 'sorry'? A few seconds passed before they all got back to Eunice.

"Come on," said Julie, taking her hand and leading her upstairs, "Let's get you something else to wear."

"Ben," Ken growled at the younger version of his cousin as soon as the girls were out of earshot, "Go up to your room."

"Oh come on!" the boy cried, "It was an accident."

"I don't care," Ken hissed, "Upstairs, and no dinner."

"You're not my dad!" the younger Ben snapped.

"You want us to get Kevin and Gwen down here?" the older Ben suggested, noticeably calmer than his cousin.

"I'll be upstairs," said the younger Ben, and sulked all the way upstairs.

"How did you know that would work?" Winston asked, cleaning up the mess Eunice had left behind.

"Where've you been for the past few days?" the older Ben laughed, sitting back in the couch.

"At the Forever Knights' castle," Winston answered, frowning at the 16-year-old.

"Oh, right," the teenage hero mumbled and sank back into the couch, embarrassed. The red haired young man in the armchair chuckled at his cousin's misery.

Upstairs the older Kevin and Gwen were arguing…as usual.

"I can't believe you're still jealous of him," said the red head, sitting on the edge of their bed, the parcel in her lap, her arms crossed on her chest. There was a very slight smile on her beautiful face as she watched her boyfriend pace the short length of the room.

"I am not jealous!" Kevin growled, "He's still a stupid Forever Knights' squire. Why would I be jealous of him? Because of the dumb British accent? Or his dumb outfit? Yeah right!"

"Yeah, you're not jealous at all," she said sarcastically. One of the girl's eyebrows was raised incredulously.

"Would you just open up that present already?" the osmosian snapped at his girlfriend, coming to a halt in front of the door. His hands were on his hips, and his face screamed anger as he glared at her. Anyone else would have been terrified, but not Gwen. She calmly shrugged and carefully unwrapped the thin, brown tissue paper. Inside there was a carefully folded note on top of a cat mask, which was on top of an equally carefully folded piece of black clothing. The annodyte frowned and opened up the note while Kevin sat down beside her and took the black fabric from her lap, momentarily forgetting that they had just been arguing.

He examined the mask, set it down on the bed, and unfolded a black cat suit and frowned at it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My Lucky Girl outfit," Gwen answered, folding the note back up and setting it down behind her.

"What does the note say?" Kevin asked, gesturing with his chin at the folded piece of paper.

"Nothing important," the girl assured him, reaching for her outfit.

Kevin's eyes narrowed as he studied her. It was easy to tell when she was lying, at least for him. Lying to her parents was no problem, but he knew when she wasn't telling him the truth right away. It was one of the few things Gwen really hated about her boyfriend.

The osmosian quickly pulled the cat suit out of her reach. Gwen looked up at him and frowned.

"What does it say?" he repeated, a slightly amused smirk on his mouth.

"It really doesn't matter," Gwen promised, reaching for it again.

"Gwen," said Kevin warningly, "Tell me right now, or else."

"Or else what?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes and sitting back. A wicked smile appeared on the teen's mouth and he threw the outfit to the corner of the room. In a second he had her pinned to the bed, tickling her sides.

"Kevin!" she gasped in between fits of laughter, "Stop…it!"

"Are you gonna show me what's in the note?" Kevin asked, a wide smile on his face.

"Alright…alright!" Gwen gasped, and Kevin stopped tickling her. The red head glared at her still smirking boyfriend before reaching behind her for the now crumpled up note.

"Here," she huffed. Kevin gave her his gentlest smile as an apology, and she rolled her eyes in response.

The note said:

_Dearest Gwen and Kevin,_

_I hope you kids are having fun! Although I was disappointed to learn what you had done to the clothes I gave you. No matter. The outfits in Kevin's house are even better!_

_I do not wish to alarm you in sending this and rest assured, it is not meant for fighting purposes. Merely a bit of fun! I hope you enjoy this gift, especially you, Kevin. I am sorry about sending Winston, but a girl's got to have some fun!_

_Gwen, I hope you're enjoying being the centre of attention! I do miss you so, sweetheart. Once this is over won't you at least consider coming to Anodine with me?_

_Best of luck to you both!_

_-Verdona_

Kevin glared at the first-to-last sentence on the page. Was this woman crazy? There was no way Gwen was moving to Anodine! If she was considering it, he'd make her change her mind, because that's the kind of guy he was. If not, well, everything would go on just as it had. Either way, she wasn't leaving him.

His eyes ran over the page again, and settled on the second paragraph. It wasn't hard imagining what Verdona was thinking when she wrote it. It also wasn't hard to guess that that was what had made Gwen so uncomfortable. At least the first part. The second made him want to scream at the annodyte. She sent Winston here to torture him? Wasn't that what Cooper was here for? Kevin thought he was doing an excellent job at that so far, but apparently Gwen's grandma disagreed.

"So, are we gonna waste your beloved grandmother's gift, or are we gonna put it to good use?" he asked, leaning back in the bed behind her and trying not to show how upset he was about what else was written in the note.

"No chance, Kevin," said Gwen, picking up the cat suit and mask and setting them down on the desk, along with the note.

"Oh, come on," the teen said, glaring at the young red head.

"No," Gwen repeated.

At that moment the door opened slightly, and Winston stuck his head in.

"Oh, sorry," he said, blushing slightly, "I was looking for Eunice and Julie. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't," the red head assured him, "Julie's room is one door down from this one, and Eunice's is the one at the end of the hall on the left."

"Thank you," he replied, smiling at her gratefully. Gwen smiled back.

"Wait, Winston," she stopped him just as he was about to shut the door, "Why are they upstairs?"

The squire opened his mouth to answer, but Kevin cut him off.

"In three words or less," the osmosian told him, glaring at the teen the whole time. The red head turned back to give her boyfriend a look that could have frozen water in July, but he ignored it. Kevin wanted the teen to fear him, if he didn't already.

"Ben," Winston said, deciding to obey the teen's demand. The 17-year-old wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a flicker of fear in the brunette boy's eyes. He hoped it wasn't his imagination.

"Oh," said Gwen. No more words were necessary. The name spoke for itself. "Well, tell them I'm sorry about my cousin."

"I will," Winston assured her, flashing the annodyte another smile before disappearing through the doorway.

"I hate that kid," Kevin muttered as soon as the door was closed.

Gwen opened her mouth to retort, but her eyes fell on the outfit on the desk, and she had a sudden idea.

"You know, I bet you couldn't go two days without saying something bad about Winston. At least, while he stays in the house," Gwen said, smiling mischievously at her boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah?" Kevin asked, recognizing the tone in her voice, and the dangerous glint in her emerald eyes, "What'd you have in mind?"

"If you can go 48 hours without saying anything bad about Winston, starting from the next time you see him," Gwen said, trailing her fingers over the material of her cat suit, "I'll wear this for an entire day."

"Are you serious?" Kevin asked, sitting up on his elbows, his eyes widening. She might as well have put on the outfit now!

"Yes," she said, smiling, "But if you can't…we'll just see what the kids have in mind for you. I'm pretty sure they could use a laugh."

"You're on, babe," Kevin told her, getting up and wrapping his arms around her thin waist and pulling her close.

"We should be getting downstairs to dinner," Gwen breathed, as he started trailing kisses down her neck.

"I'm not really that hungry," Kevin breathed back, starting to lead her back to the King-sized bed. It was only a moment before Gwen discovered that she wasn't that hungry, either.

A couple of doors down from Kevin and Gwen's room, Julie was looking through the walk-in closet, while Eunice sat on the bed in a fluffy, white bathrobe.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Eunice asked, looking around the bedroom. No one was sleeping in here. Julie had pulled her into the first unoccupied room she could find.

"Of course I am," Julie replied, her voice muffled by the many clothes, "Where the heck did Kevin's parents get all this stuff?"

"Julie?" Eunice asked shyly after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?" the Japanese-American answered, finally extracting a purple knee-length skirt and tossing it at the girl.

"How do you know if a guy…you know, _likes_ you?" the blonde asked, catching the skirt and frowning as she appraised it. Not exactly her style, but it would have to do. Julie probably knew better about this stuff than she did.

"What do you mean, likes you?" Julie asked, now searching for a top. The skirt wasn't necessary since no real damage had been inflicted upon the shorts, but the raven-haired girl had insisted on redressing her friend in a completely different outfit.

"I mean like Ben liked me," Eunice elaborated. Julie tensed at her example. "I mean, before you two got back together."

"I'm not really sure," Julie admitted, knowing full well that the girl hadn't realized what she'd said, "I mean, before Gwen made Ben ask me out, I kept on wondering whether or not he liked me. He didn't try to flirt, but I sometimes caught him looking at me. Then I finally got the courage to talk to him after his soccer match, but he didn't ask me out, so I didn't know what to think."

"Wait," Eunice said, catching another item that Julie had flung at her, "Gwen made him ask you out?"

"Well, he wasn't gonna do anything on his own," the girl told her, finally standing up.

"What about Gwen and Kevin?" Eunice asked, looking at the light blue T-shirt her friend had given her.

"It was obvious that Kevin liked Gwen a lot from the start," Julie answered, turning around so that the girl could have some privacy, "It was sometimes like a love-hate relationship, where they argued a lot, but other times he was really sweet and overprotective. Maybe you should talk to Gwen about this. There are a lot of guys who like her. She'd probably be able to tell you more."

"Probably," Eunice agreed, "But I don't think so. She's just so…"

"Intimidating?" Julie suggested, turning back around so that she could see the girl's outfit.

"Yes," the blonde laughed, "How do I look?"

"Beautiful," the 16-year-old girl told her.

"Thanks," Eunice said, smiling at her friend.

"Ship!" a small voice came from outside the window.

"Did you hear that?" the blonde girl asked, as both of them turned to the window.

"It sounded like-" Julie opened the window and didn't get to finish her sentence, as something small and black jumped on top of her, knocking the girl to the ground.

"Ship!" it cried.

"Ship!" Julie exclaimed, hugging the alien, "How did you get here?"

"Ship, ship!" Ship cried, hopping off her and jumping back on the window sill. He frantically pointed out the window into the darkness.

"What is it, boy?" the Asian-American asked, walking over to him to peer out into the darkness.

"There's someone out there," Eunice told her, deciding to question her friend about the alien later. After all, this was far more important. "They're in trouble."

Julie turned around to her in surprise, but decided that it didn't matter how she understood what Ship had said. The two stood there, their eyes locked as a wordless conversation passed through them. Then the two girls were out of the room and running down the hall, Ship on their tails. They nearly rammed right into Winston.

"There you are!" he cried, "I've been looking everywhere for you two."

"No time," Eunice stated, as the three of them tore past the squire, "Someone's in trouble!"

Winston's reaction was just as immediate as the girls'. He ran after them, and they were downstairs in a matter of seconds. The older Ben got up, seeing their hurry and distress.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Ship? What are you doing here?"

"Someone's in trouble," Julie explained, running past him, Eunice, Ship, and Winston following her. The brunette teen exchanged a look with his cousin before they both followed suit and ran after them as well.

When they were outside, Julie turned back to her beloved pet.

"Where is he, Ship?" she asked, "The person who needs our help, where is he?"

"Ship!" the alien cried and led them around to the other side of the building to a bush.

"Ship! Ship!" he cried. The teens could hear a moan from the other side of the bush and ran over there. They could see the outline of a girl curled up, facing away from them.

Ben crouched down cautiously and leaned forward so that he could lightly rest his hand on the girl's shoulder, hoping not to startle her.

"Um, hello?" he said, "Are you okay?"

The girl groaned again and looked over her shoulder at the teen. Her large, brown eyes widened.

"Ben?" she breathed.

Ben's emerald green eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Kai?" he exclaimed.

"Ben…" she repeated, rolling over, "Help me…" Kai groaned again and passed out. Ben picked her up bridal style and got up. He turned back to face everyone.

"Get Cooper," he said to Eunice and started heading back to the house. The blonde gave a curt nod before running back inside to get the 'doctor'.

"Ben, who is she?" Ken asked, staring at the teenage girl in his cousin's arms. She was wearing pale blue shorts that were as short as Eunice's, and a white T-shirt with two stripes running around her chest. One was red and the other one – yellow. The collar and hem were orphan blue, as well.

"Her name's Kai Green," Ben explained, struggling under the girl's weight.

"Is she a friend or a foe?" Winston asked, frowning at the girl.

"Friend," Ben answered.

"How do you know her?" Julie asked quietly, trying desperately not to sound jealous. She was carrying Ship in her arms. The 'dog' cuddled up to his master, or rather mistress, happy to be reunited with her.

"We met on the road trip when we were kids," Ben told her, "Can someone get the door, please?"

Ken opened the door and Ben carried the girl inside.

Upstairs, Cooper and the younger Gwen were with the 12-year-old Kevin.

"Is he gonna be okay?" the red head asked, sitting on the edge of the bed as she watched Cooper work.

"Yeah," Cooper told her, "He'll be up in the morning. His leg will hurt, but other than that he'll be as good as new."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them after that. Cooper looked over to the younger red head to see the worried expression on her face. She was staring at the young boy, her eyebrows furrowed, hands clenched tightly in her lap. The girl was biting her lip off.

"Gwen, really," Cooper tried to reassure her, "He'll be fine. An osmosian's immune system is a lot stronger than a human's. I'm sure that even if you didn't get the antibiotics he would've lived."

"Better safe than sorry," the annodyte said, her eyes never straying from the osmosian's face.

Cooper sighed.

"I still can't believe you went after them," he said, "How did you slip past the rakari?"

"We borrowed your ID masks," Gwen said, not even bothering to lie. She took hers out from the pocket of the cat suit and handed it to the blonde teen.

"Oh," he said, not even pretending to be outraged by the fact that the girl had stolen from him.

Gwen peeked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"It was Ben's idea," she told him. It was a habit, blaming her cousin for everything, and she could see no reason to break it now.

"I figured," Cooper said, smiling at her briefly. Gwen smiled back, but just barely.

"You know, he's the one who figured out you were gone," Cooper tried, gesturing at the young osmosian, "He seemed really worried."

The girl's eyes widened at him in surprise, but only for a moment. That mask of concern fell back into place soon, and she nodded, turning back to the boy.

The blonde teen sighed. If this was how she was reacting to Kevin getting hurt when they weren't even together, he couldn't imagine what it would've been like if Ben had actually succeeded in killing the guy in the first place. A mental image crossed his mind: the mutated Kevin's body limp on the ground of Los Soledad, Ben as Ultimate Echo Echo standing over him, Gwen sitting crouched down by her ex-boyfriend's body, tears streaming down her face as she called out for the one person that would never again answer her. And suddenly he walks up and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. He tells her that it's over. He's gone. She looks at him with those beautiful emerald eyes of hers and nods. Her hand slips into his and she gets up, wiping away the last of her tears. His ice blue eyes meet her green ones, and they lean toward each other, their lips meeting in a searing, passionate kiss. Her lips taste like-

"Hello?" the 11-year-old Gwen's voice interrupted his heavenly fantasy. He had the feeling she'd been trying to get his attention for a while now. "Earth to Cooper?"

"Right, sorry," he said, shaking his head to clear it of any more inappropriate fantasies he might have had about the girl that one of the most dangerous men in the world claimed as his, "What were you saying?"

The younger version of said girl looked at him in surprise. She had been telling him about her and Ben's trip to Bellwood. She'd already gotten to the part where they met Grandpa Max at the hospital. Had he really missed all that?

"Never mind," she said, "It's not important."

The door sprang open to reveal a red-faced Eunice. Her green eyes were frantic as she appraised the room. She was dressed in a pale blue T-shirt and a purple skirt.

"What's the matter?" Cooper asked, all thoughts of Gwen vanishing from his mind as he studied the girl for any signs of injury. Satisfied that he found none, he turned back to her face.

"Julie…Ship…girl…help," Eunice gasped, trying to regain her breath.

"What?" the younger Gwen asked, frowning at the girl as if though she'd just spoken gibberish.

"Eunice, slow down," Cooper told her, "What's going on?"

The blonde took a deep breath and then said all in one breath:

"Julie's alien pet Ship found a girl and brought her to us. She needs help."

Cooper and the younger Gwen exchanged looks, not sure if the girl was serious.

"That means get downstairs, you moron!" Eunice cried, glaring at the boy.

"On it!" Cooper cried and ran from the room.

Eunice started to follow him, but she noticed the younger red head in the room hadn't moved an inch from her spot on the 12-year-old osmosian's bed.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked cautiously.

"No," Gwen answered, not even looking back at the blonde girl, "Someone should stay with him."

"Alright," Eunice agreed and ran downstairs after Cooper.

As soon as the door closed behind her, the 11-year-old girl let her head fall into her hands. She didn't know how long she'd sat there, fuming at herself for something that was well beyond her. The younger Kevin was gonna be okay, Cooper had said so. But what did he know? So his mom was a doctor. That didn't automatically make him an expert on this stuff! Maybe she'd gotten the wrong ones, and something bad was gonna happen to him! But wouldn't the future automatically change, then? That was how it always happened in the movies. Great, she was turning into her annoying, gullible cousin.

"Ugh."

After all, maybe this wasn't even her real future! Maybe they'd traveled to some parallel universe, or something like that. That didn't seem too likely, though. Kevin was already starting to change, at least towards her. She wasn't so sure about Ben. Back then, the young osmosian wouldn't have saved her life. And now, if what Cooper told her was true, he was worried about her when he found out she was gone! He was definitely changing. It was so strange…

"Ugh."

It was only then that she noticed that he was awake.

"Kevin?" she said cautiously, leaning forward slightly.

"'Bout time you noticed," the 12-year-old muttered as he sat up in bed, "I've been up for like a half hour."

The girl smiled and before either of them knew what was happening, she had thrown her arms around his neck. The boy was caught off guard by the hug, but wrapped his arms hesitantly around her waist. She couldn't see it, but there was a shocked expression on his pale face.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said, pulling back, her emerald green eyes shining as they looked into his obsidian ones.

"Yeah, me too," he said. There was a moment's silence. The red head was beaming, while the raven-haired boy was frowning down at his blanket, apparently lost in thought.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked, her eyes turning concerned.

"You shouldn't have gone after those things," Kevin told her, shaking his head as he turned to look at her.

"What?" she asked, frowning at him, "Are you actually mad at me for saving your life?"

"Well, no," he said begrudgingly, "But you still shouldn't have gone. Not alone."

"I wasn't alone, doofus," Gwen said, automatically calling him the nickname she had given her cousin so long ago, "Ben was with me."

"Now I know you were safe," Kevin told her sarcastically.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Well, someone had to do it," she argued, crossing her arms on her chest, "And you sure weren't going to."

"No duh," the osmosian said, rolling his eyes, too, "I was out cold."

"I meant the older you," the girl told him, "He thought it was too dangerous as well."

"What?" the boy exclaimed, his eyes widening. 'Too dangerous for Kevin Levin' wasn't something he heard very often, if ever.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too," Gwen chuckled, seeing the surprise on his now normally pale face.

"How long have I been sick?" he asked, sitting back against the headboard.

The girl chuckled again and got up.

"Go to sleep," she told him, "I'll fill you in on everything tomorrow morning."

"I'm fine," he said, shaking his head as he sat up straighter. The 11-year-old glared at him.

"Seriously," he promised, "I've been asleep for the past day. The last thing I need is more sleep."

"Good night," the annodyte said, already exiting the room, completely ignoring the 12-year-old.

"Wait!" he called, just before she could slam the door.

"What?" she asked, hiding a pleased smile before turning around.

"What the heck are you wearing?" the boy asked, his eyes traveling up and down her body.

Gwen was starting to get annoyed by this question, especially since she knew she'd have to answer it several hundred times more five years from now.

"Good night, Kevin," she said and switched off the lights before heading to the bedroom next door.

Left alone, the boy sank back into his bed, thoughts of the future running through his mind wildly, just before the bliss of sleep overcame him about five minutes later.

Back downstairs the older Ben had laid Kai down on the couch, just as Cooper and Eunice ran over to them.

"What happened?" Cooper asked, looking down at the unconscious girl, "Who is she? And would somebody please shut that movie off?"

"Kai Green," Ben answered as Ken took the remote and switched off the TV, "She's a…a friend of mine. We're not really sure what happened to her. Ship found her outside."

"Ship! Ship!" the alien cried, shaking his head defiantly.

"He says he didn't find her just outside," Julie told them, "He found her a few miles back."

"Didn't Kevin say that an alarm was supposed to go off if any alien life forms came closer than 10 miles to this place?" Eunice asked, frowning at them.

"Yeah, he did," Ben agreed, frowning at Ship. The dog just wagged his tail in response.

"I'll go tell him," Ken said and took off for his sister and her boyfriend's room, realizing only too late what he had just sentenced himself to do. He hesitated on the stairs, but figured that his baby sister's safety was more important than the mental image that would no doubt be frozen in his mind for the rest of eternity.

"Ship! Ship!" Ship cried again.

"What was that?" Julie asked, "I don't understand, Ship."

"He said he broke the alarm," Eunice clarified.

"You speak, um, what language is he speaking?" Winston asked, staring at the girl in awe.

"He's speaking his own language," Julie explained, "How do you understand it?"

"Azmuth taught me," the blonde answered with a shrug, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

"That's strange," said Cooper, frowning as he finished his examination of the Native American girl.

"Not really," the bearer of the Ultimatrix disagreed, "Azmuth is the smartest man in the universe. He knows everything."

"I didn't mean the part about Azmuth," said Cooper, "There's nothing wrong with her. She just seems really…weak."

"Maybe it has something to do with magic," Winston suggested, "Or perhaps an alien weapon of some sort…?"

"Or maybe she just decided to take a nap on our couch," said Ben, his eyes narrowed, "Hey, Kai! Time to dance the Rain Dance!"

The girl didn't stir.

"…impossible!" the older Kevin's voice floated down to them as he, the 16-year-old Gwen, and Ken ran down the steps, "I'm sure I put it up!"

"You did put up the alarm," Julie told him, "Ship broke it."

Kevin turned his ice-cold glare to the alien, who immediately hid behind his owner's leg and cowered in fear of the dark teen.

"There, there, Ship," Julie soothed, "The big bad osmosian won't hurt you."

Kevin rolled his eyes. His gaze fell on the dark haired girl on the couch.

"Who's the hot chick?" he asked, frowning at her. Gwen immediately elbowed him in the ribs. It was practically a reflex now.

"Kai Green," Ben answered, ignoring his friend and cousin's exchange.

"The one who wanted to train you when she thought you were gonna turn into a werewolf?" Kevin asked, an amused smile on his lips.

"She what?" Julie cried, her dark eyes widening as she looked at her boyfriend.

"We were kids," Ben explained, turning to his girlfriend, a pleading look on his face, "And it really meant nothing!"

"Except that you had a huge crush on her," Kevin cut in again, enjoying his friend's discomfort as Julie backed him up into the far wall.

"Dude!" Ben snapped, peering over the Japanese-American's shoulder, "Not cool!"

"Can we discuss Ben's relationship problems later?" Cooper asked, clearly annoyed by all this, "We still have an unconscious Native American to deal with here!"

"Cooper's right," said the red head, crouching down beside her friend, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I can't figure out what's wrong with her," the blonde teen said, turning to look briefly at the annodyte, "She doesn't have any broken bones, sprains, or anything. Can you check if her mind hasn't been tampered with, or something?"

"I'll see what I can do," said Gwen gently. Her eyes glowed pink, and for a moment it was like she was Kai. She was trapped in an alien ship, held captive by the rakari. They weren't doing anything to her, though. Finally, she managed to break free and jumped out of the open door of the ship. She was hurtling towards the earth at who knows how many miles per hour, and expected to die, when she suddenly hit something soft, like a mattress, or something – Ship. For the past three days he had been disguised as a car, and had driven her around, searching for help. She had barely stirred at all.

Gwen came back to her own body and shook her head.

"She's fine," the girl declared, "Just exhausted, starving, and dehydrated. As soon as she wakes up, get some food and water for her."

"I'm on it," said Eunice, already rushing to the kitchen.

"What happened to her?" Winston asked, his blue eyes boring into Gwen's green ones.

"The rakari have had her pretty much as long as we've been on the run, but she escaped three days ago," the girl explained, "Come to think of it, it could also be the shock. Her mind could have just shut off, trying to block out the situation, protect itself. Anyway, she jumped out of one of their ships and is lucky to still be alive. If it hadn't been for Ship, well…"

"She wouldn't be," Ken finished for her.

"But why did they have her?" Ben asked, stepping around Julie, completely forgetting their argument, "We haven't been in touch at all over the past six years!"

"Maybe Grandpa Max has been in touch with her grandpa," Gwen suggested.

"Maybe," said Ben doubtfully.

"Or maybe she tried getting in touch with you," Julie said, hurt clearly visible in her eyes.

"Julie," said Ben, "Really, she doesn't matter. You're my girlfriend, not her."

"I know," the Asian-American said, a small smile on her face. Ben couldn't know that it was fake, he was too oblivious. But Gwen and Kevin did know that it wasn't real.

The red head walked over to her friend and put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"We should probably get to bed," she said.

"Shouldn't someone stay down here with Pocahontas?" Kevin asked, pointing at the Native American girl, "You know, just in case she wakes up."

Gwen's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to shoot a nasty retort back at her boyfriend, but was cut off by her cousin.

"I'll do it," Ben offered, not wanting Kevin and Gwen to get in some big argument over nothing again, "She wouldn't recognize anyone other than me and Gwen anyway."

Julie sighed.

"I'll stay downstairs, too," she said, smiling lightly, "You could use the company."

"You sure?" Ben asked, smiling as she slipped her hand into his and stepped away from Gwen's comforting arm, "Maybe you should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"I'm fine," she told him.

"Ship! Ship!" Ship agreed.

"Alright, you kids," said Kevin, wagging a finger at the two teens, "Don't stay up past midnight." He was already half-way up the stairs, with Gwen hot on his heels, shaking her head at her boyfriend's obnoxiousness.

"Still watching those reruns, Kev?" Julie laughed, taking a seat in the armchair. Ship settled down in her lap, ready to go to sleep.

The osmosian ignored her and shut the door to his and Gwen's bedroom behind the red haired girl.

Ken sighed and followed the two teens up the steps.

"Good night, you two," he muttered.

"Yes, good night," Winston agreed and rushed back up the steps after Gwen's older brother.

Cooper sighed and slowly stood up.

"You guys sure you're gonna be okay?" he asked the two teens.

"She's an unconscious human girl, Coop," Ben laughed, "I doubt that's anything we can't handle."

"If you say so, Ben," Cooper told him. He then turned back to the kitchen where Eunice was making sandwiches.

"You coming?" he asked the blonde.

Eunice sighed at him and shook her head.

"Not yet," she told the teen, "I still have to finish these sandwiches."

"I'm pretty sure Ben and Julie can handle that," Cooper said, "You should get some sleep. Come on."

"I don't think-"

"Go, Eunice," Julie interrupted her friend, a small smile on her face. She now understood why the blonde had been asking her about boys. "We'll be fine."

The other girl looked at her friend's reassuring smile and put down the butter knife. She smiled back and went over to the stairs. Cooper let her pass before walking upstairs himself.

"So," said Ben, sitting down on the unoccupied couch, smiling at his favorite girl, "now that we're alone…"

"Ben!" Julie cried, smiling at her boyfriend playfully, "Cut it out!"

"Come on, Jules!" Ben started whining, "We hardly ever have any time to ourselves, and when we do, we're almost always spending it with the couple that fights a lot and makes out afterwards!"

"You're right," Julie said, smiling at him slightly, "So, now that we have some free time, why don't you tell me about how you met Kai?"

"Um, you know what?" said the teen, his eyes widening, "I'm really tired right now. Good night!"

"Nice try, Ben," said the girl, rolling her eyes, "Your left eye was twitching."

"Damn it!" the hero snapped, "Why does Kevin have to be right so often?"

Julie chuckled.

"If he were here, you'd never hear the end of it," she reminded her boyfriend.

"Yeah," he agreed, scratching the back of his neck, "Don't tell him that, alright?"

"Your secret's safe with me," she said, that smile never leaving her face.

"Ship!" the alien chirped in agreement in her lap, before going back to sleep. Julie stroked him slowly. Her dark eyes fell back on the sleeping girl on the couch and the Asian-American sighed.

"Julie," said Ben, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, "Don't be like this. Gwen and Kevin are the ones who are supposed to be jealous, not us."

"I know," the raven-haired girl told him, "It's just, after what happened with Jennifer Nocturne, and then Eunice-"

"I already told you – they meant nothing," he interrupted gently, "You're the one I want."

"That is so sweet," Julie breathed, her eyes full of undeniable affection as she gazed at her boyfriend. After a moment's silence, she added, "You've been spending way too much time with Kevin."

"Hey!" the hero cried defiantly, jerking back up on the couch, "I can be sweet!"

"Right," the girl said, rolling her dark brown eyes, "Like you could give Kevin good advice? Now that I think about it, are you sure one of your other aliens isn't pregnant?"

She was teasing him, and Ben knew it. He narrowed his eyes at her. He knew that if his osmosian friend and annodyte cousin had been in this situation, those two would've been making out a long time ago. Not them, though. They had a very different relationship from the two half-aliens. While they preferred being open and public, Ben and Julie liked being private. God only knew how hard it was for those two to keep their relationship a secret with the kids in the house.

"How about we watch a movie?" Julie's quiet, gentle voice interrupted Ben's thoughts.

"Sure," Ben agreed, "Please, anything but Twilight."

Julie glared at him as she reached for the remote and turned on the TV.

"Yes!" she cried, seeing the movie on the screen.

"No!" Ben groaned, throwing his head back as if the movie was causing him physical pain. It was New Moon, strangely enough.

"Shut up," Julie said, rolling her eyes. The girl got up and placed Ship down on the armchair carefully, before going to sit next to her boyfriend. Ben smiled and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his embrace. Julie sighed contentedly and relaxed in his arms. "You know, I really hate this movie," she suddenly admitted.

"Really?" Ben laughed, genuinely surprised, "How come?"

"Because this is the one where he leaves her!" Julie cried, sulking in his arms. She turned her head briefly so that the teenage hero could see the hurt in her eyes. He realized then that she wasn't just talking about the movie, but real life as well.

"I promise, I won't ever do that," he stated, his arms tightening around her.

"You better," Julie said in a threatening voice, "If you do, I'll send Gwen on you."

"Yikes," Ben said, his eyes widening in fear.

"What?" the girl teased, "Is the big, bad bearer of the most powerful weapon in the universe afraid of his cousin?"

"Yes!" Ben cried, "What was your first clue?"

Julie rolled her eyes and then went back to watching the movie. A small whimper escaped her lips and she tucked her head into the crook of his neck. Ben smiled at her sympathetically and gently pried the remote out of her hand.

"I think Sumo Slammers is on," he said quietly, brushing his lips briefly on the top of her head, "Wanna watch that instead?"

He felt her nod, and smirked as he changed the channel to his all-time favorite TV show.

* * *

A/N: Alright, I know I probably added Kai and Ship in way too soon, since Winston just joined the group and all, but I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. R&R!

Also, yay for summer vacation! School just ended on Tuesday, so I'm probably gonna have more free time to write!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks for the brilliant reviews, guys! You're the best! Rose Aerin and Bad Bella thank you so much for the suggestions, too!

Marin Barnard, I didn't get that email. Maybe you sent it to the wrong address. Are you still having problems with your account? It might be easier if we could just exchange documents in fanfiction.

* * *

Morning came faster than anyone had expected it to. It had been a long night and no one was ready to get up yet. On the second floor, the older Gwen groaned and tucked her head into her boyfriend's shoulder, trying to block out the sunlight. Kevin tightened his arm around her almost instinctively. The sunlight wasn't that much of a factor for him. The teen could, as he had proved many, many times before sleep through anything.

Across the hall, the younger Kevin was still sleeping soundly. For someone who had spent the past 36 hours in bed, he sure was exhausted. Next door to him, the younger Gwen was trying to block out the sunlight by throwing a blanket over her head, but to no avail. She was already awake. Beside her room, the younger Ben was sitting cross-legged on his bed, trying to figure out how to get revenge on the teens. Ideally, it would be some prank that was easy to pull, but that no one would see coming. He had been up for a few hours now, and saw no need to let the teens know. They were worse than his parents!

All the other teens were attempting to catch more sleep, as well. Ken was the only one who had a window facing the west, so he had no trouble.

Downstairs in the living room, Julie and Ben were asleep. The brunette teen was sprawled out over the couch, snoring quietly. His girlfriend was curled up next to him using his arm as a pillow. The TV was still on, and sunshine poured in through the glass walls, just barely reaching the couple.

Suddenly, Ben awoke. It wasn't because of the sun, though. There was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. The teen opened his eyes groggily. Eunice was the only one who cooked, and, to say the truth, it wasn't that surprising that she was up so early. He cautiously removed his arm out from under Julie's head and replaced it with one of the pillows on the couch. He smiled at her briefly and wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, tucking it around her like a blanket. The hero gave the tennis player a loving look before getting up, yawning and stumbling to the kitchen.

"Morning, Eunice," he greeted the girl at the stove and turned to the fridge to get out a carton of orange juice.

"Good morning, Ben," the girl said. Ben froze. The voice was familiar, but it wasn't Eunice's.

"Kai?" he cried, getting up and spinning around, the juice still in his hand.

"Yep," the girl laughed as she turned around as well, and gave him a quick hug, "Who is Eunice? Your housekeeper?"

"She's my friend," the shocked teen corrected her as he set the juice down on the table and frowned at his old crush, "What are you doing?"

"I'm making breakfast," the Native American said, pointing at the sizzling bacon on the pan.

"Yeah, I got that," the 16-year-old said, scratching the back of his neck, "But why?"

"Well, you've been so kind to me, letting me stay here, I thought I'd do something nice for you, too," Kai answered, turning back to the food, "How many people live here?"

"Um, twelve, including you and me," Ben answered, "Aren't you tired? Gwen said you were exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry."

"I was," the girl confirmed, "But then I ate some of those delicious sandwiches and drank some water, and now I'm fine. Can you get me a plate?"

"Sure," said Ben, reaching behind him in the cupboard and taking out a plate, "So, you're okay now?"

"I'm fine," Kai told him, taking the plate and putting the bacon on it. Once she was done, she looked back at him and smiled slyly. "Don't worry about me."

"You were stranded for three days with an alien and no food or water in the middle of the woods after escaping from a bunch of other aliens that destroy everything they come into contact with," the bearer of the Ultimaterix said, slightly incredulous, "How can you tell me not to be worried?"

"So, you are worried," she said, stepping closer to him, a teasing smile on her lips.

"I never said I wasn't," he said, taking a cautious step backwards.

"You never said you were," Kai pointed out, taking another step closer.

"Right," said the teen awkwardly, ducking around her, "Well, if breakfast is ready, maybe I should get everyone else." He started running for the stairs.

"Don't you like me anymore?" Kai asked in a hurt voice, making the teen freeze in his tracks again and turn around. He remembered how he had fallen for her when they were kids. If Kevin had been with them, he would've made even more fun of him than when Gwen had made him drive the young hero and Julie to the pier for their first date. Kai was still beautiful. Even more so than when he had last seen her. She was curvier now, and there was just something about her brown eyes that made her look so innocent. Ben knew this wasn't so, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was chasing after someone she could never have. A sad smile slowly crept up on his lips.

"Of course I like you," he said gently, "But not like I used to." As he said the words, he found that they were true. Kai was drop-dead gorgeous, but she wasn't the one for him. She wasn't Julie.

"What's different?" the girl asked, the hurt look still there, "Is it because of what happened when we were kids? I was young and stupid, Ben. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," the teen said, going back to the girl, "But that's not all. I have a girlfriend now. Julie."

"The girl who was sleeping on the couch with you?" the young girl asked, looking over his shoulder at the sleeping Japanese-American, "I was wondering why you two were curled up like that." There was the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

"Yeah," said Ben awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck again, embarrassed.

"I didn't know you were together," Kai said sadly, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," the teen told her, a genuine smile on his lips now, "A lot of girls like me. You're not the first, or the last."

Kai rolled her dark, chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm sure," she said sarcastically and turned back to the bacon.

"Look, we might not be able to be together, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends," the teen tried to cheer her up.

"Just friends?" she asked, looking up into his emerald-green eyes again.

"Yeah," Ben confirmed, "Just friends."

Just then a shrill scream came from upstairs.

"What was that?" the Native-American asked, looking up at the second floor. The noise had come from the door right across from the stairs – Kevin and Gwen's room.

"Oh no," Ben breathed, running up the stairs with Kai hot on his heels, "That's Kevin and Gwen's room," he announced, stopping just in front of the door and putting a hand in front of Kai to keep her from going any further, "Prepare yourself for anything."

He cautiously opened the door and was immediately greeted by a blizzard of feathers.

"Never…do that…again!" Gwen's shrill voice yelled at Kevin as she beat her boyfriend with one of the pillows from who knows where in the room. Amazingly enough, the pillows on the bed remained untouched. She was straddling Kevin, who was feverishly trying to stop her while at the same time trying not to choke on the feathers. The girl was wearing a pair of flannel pajamas and Kevin was wearing just sweatpants and no shirt.

"Gwen!" Kevin shouted, "Stop! You'll wake up the whole house!"

"I don't care!" the red head yelled back, still beating him with the pillow.

"Easy, Gwen, you'll kill him," Ben laughed from the doorway. Kai was just behind him, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Kai!" Gwen exclaimed, turning around as Kevin lifted himself up on his elbows. In just a moment he had flipped them, so that she was the one on the floor and he was the one straddling her.

"Let me go!" the girl snapped.

"I'm guessing you two don't want breakfast," said Ben, watching his cousin struggle underneath Kevin with an amused smile on his face.

"Got that right, Tennyson," Kevin confirmed, "Too bad this place doesn't have room service."

"We'll be downstairs," the younger teen said and closed the door, not waiting to hear his cousin's reply. He turned around to see a concerned Cooper peering out of his door. The door next to it opened, and the one after that, too, revealing Eunice and Winston.

"What was that?" Cooper asked, frowning.

"Gwen and Kevin," Ben said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders.

"What happened?" Eunice asked.

"Are they alright?" Winston added.

"Pillow fight," Kai laughed.

"And other than a few bruises, they'll be fine," Ben added, the smile never wavering from his mouth.

"So we can go back to sleep?" Cooper asked, a relieved look replacing the frown on his face.

"Actually, breakfast's ready," Kai informed him, smiling.

"Breakfast?" Eunice asked, stepping out of her room. She was already dressed in the outfit she had worn yesterday. There wasn't even a single wrinkle, surprisingly enough. "You made breakfast?"

"Yes, I did," Kai answered, stepping forward to meet the blonde, "And I'm guessing you are Eunice?"

"Yes," the girl answered with a nod. A small smile suddenly appeared on her mouth. "Thanks for making breakfast."

"I thought you liked cooking," Cooper said with a frown as he and Winston stepped out from their rooms. Cooper was wearing blue-and-white striped, faded pajamas, but Winston was dressed, too. He was wearing jeans and a white, short-sleeved polo neck shirt.

"I like it just as much as you like being the doctor," the Unitrix core answered with a slight smile. Cooper smiled back and shook his head at the girl.

"Um, Ben?" said Kai, her eyes widening as she gestured at the three teens.

"Oh, right, sorry," the bearer of the Ultimaterix said, "Guys, this is Kai Green. Kai, this is Cooper, Eunice, and Winston."

"Hey," said Cooper, holding up his hand in salute.

"Nice to meet you," Eunice said.

"A pleasure," said Winston, smiling brightly as he stepped forward and appraised the girl. He stretched out his hand for her to shake and she smiled as she shook it.

"Right," said Ben, gently stepping forward in between Kai and Winston, pushing her behind him like Kevin had Gwen when they had first met the squire, "Why don't we go down for breakfast?"

Suddenly the door to the younger Ben's room opened and the kid stepped out, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was wearing jeans and a green T-shirt.

"Morning," he said when he saw everyone in the hall. His eyes widened when they fell on the Native American girl. "Kai?"

"Ben?" the girl asked. Both of them turned to the older Ben questioningly.

"I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I?" the teen asked.

"You think?" the 11-year-old him asked, glaring at his older self.

Another door somewhere at the other end of the hallway opened and Ken went over to the group standing in front of his sister's room. He was dressed in a pale blue T-shirt, leather jacket, and dark blue jeans. It looked unusual on him, but not in a bad way.

"Hey," he said, "I heard the sound of a cat screeching, so I'm guessing those two are going at it again?" The young man gestured with his head to the door.

"Yeah," Ben stated, "Kai, this is Gwen's brother, Ken."

"Ken?" the girl repeated, "Ken, Gwen, Ben…" There was an amused smile on her face as realization struck.

"Yeah, yeah," the teen said, rolling his eyes, "I swear, you and Kevin have got to be related."

"Ha ha," the girl said, rolling her eyes, "You mean the guy who was having the-"

The teenage Ben covered her mouth with his hand, cutting her off. Everyone else's eyes were wide with surprise. Or, at least the younger Ben's were. Everyone else was thinking how close she'd come to revealing the teens' biggest secret. Immediately the older Ben started forcing the protesting girl into the nearest unoccupied room, Ken and Winston running in after him. Just before the door closed, the two teens stuck their heads out and Ken turned back to the two blonde teens and the young boy.

"Um, would you excuse us for just a minute?" he said.

"Yes, we have some very important things to discuss with Kai," Winston added and shut the door.

"What was that?" the younger Ben asked, turning to the two remaining teens. They quickly exchanged looks, trying to think of a good lie.

"Um, I gotta go get dressed," said Cooper, bolting back to his room.

"And I better check she didn't overcook breakfast," Eunice said, and took off down the stairs.

The 11-year-old stared after the girl in confusion. He shook his head and turned to his cousin's door. He opened the door and ran over to her.

"Gwen!" he yelled, shaking her wildly, "Get up!"

"Leave me alone, dweeb," the girl groaned, pulling the blanket tighter over her head in an effort to block out not only the sunshine, but also her annoying cousin.

The boy groaned.

"Get up! You have an algebra test in five minutes!" he snapped.

"What?" the girl cried, snapping up into a sitting position in less than a second.

"I lied," the boy said quickly, "But listen to this."

"It's way too early for this," the red head groaned, getting up and out of bed slowly, "Alright, what's up?"

"First of all, Kai's here!" the excited 11-year-old cried, watching his cousin walk into the walk-in closet and shut the door behind her as she changed.

"Yeah, I know," Gwen's muffled voice came from the closet, "I saw you carrying her back into the house last night."

"What?" Ben cried, falling back on her bed in exasperation, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, dweeb, I fell asleep like five minutes later!" the red head snapped at her cousin.

"Fine," he said impatiently, sitting back up, "But a moment ago everyone was gathered outside the main bedroom, and when I mentioned Kevin, and Kai started to say something, I dragged her into the other room! Weird, huh?"

"What do you mean you dragged her into another room?" the girl demanded, still hidden in the closet.

"Well, I didn't," Ben said impatiently, "The older me did! And then your brother and that guy you were flirting with yesterday, Winston, followed me, saying they had to talk to her about a something."

"It's probably got something to do with the future that we aren't allowed to know about," Gwen said, finally opening the door and stepping out of the walk-in closet. She was dressed in a sleeveless, red tank top and a black, jeans miniskirt. In her hands she was holding two pairs of sandals. "Which ones?"

"Hmm," said the 11-year-old, pretending to care. He would never understand girls and the magical bond that they shared with all things fashion. "I DON'T CARE!"

"Jeez, take a chill pill," the young girl snapped at her cousin, "Look, I know you probably want to start investigating or whatever, but I'm telling you right now, that's a bad idea."

"Why?" he demanded, sulking as she sat down next to him, choosing a pair of sandals and slipping them on.

"Because they have the master of all things sneaky and illegal on their side," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but so do I," the boy said, trailing off dramatically and rubbing his hands together like an evil villain.

"Ben, don't," the annodyte whined, "He just got better again, and I really don't want to have to pin you both to trees in the future."

"Don't get your shorts in a twist, lame-brain," the bearer of the Omnitrix said dismissively, "I'm not gonna spend all my time with your new boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," the red head hissed, glaring at him.

"Right," her cousin said sarcastically, rolling his emerald green eyes at her and putting on a fake understanding expression, "Gwen, guys know these things. Don't bother denying them."

"The day I want dating tips from you is the day I'll stick my head in the toilet bowl," she snapped, "But if you want to talk to Kevin, go ahead. I just hope he's smart enough to stay away from whatever you have planned."

A moment of silence passed as what she had just said sank in.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" the girl groaned, "I'm in." Of course the osmosian wasn't smart enough to ignore her idiot of a cousin's ridiculous musings. They were both keen for adventure and magnets for trouble. It would be up to her to make sure they didn't get into too much of it.

"Good choice," said the younger Ben, and the two cousins left the room.

* * *

Across the hall, Ben had Kai pinned to the wall, his hand till over her mouth.

"Okay, Kai," said Ben slowly, trying to keep her still, "I'm gonna let you go, and when I do, we're gonna explain everything to you. Okay?"

The girl glared at him defiantly, but nodded all the same. Ben smiled briefly and took his hand away. An ear-splitting scream immediately escaped the girl's mouth. The three boys covered their ears until she was done.

"Thank God the walls are soundproof," Ken muttered, looking at the door just in case.

"Ben, what is wrong with you?" Kai demanded, stomping her foot on the hardwood floor.

"Sorry, but I didn't have a choice," the bearer of the Omnitrix said, "Look, Kai, you can't tell them about Kevin and Gwen."

"Them?" Kai repeated, "Who is them?"

"The child versions of Ben, Gwen and Kevin," Winston explained, "Although, I'm assuming he wasn't as terrifying back then as he is now."

"No," Ben smirked, "He was worse."

Winston's eyes widened but he didn't say anything else.

"Anyway," said Ken, rolling his emerald green eyes, "You can't tell the kids about Kevin and my sister."

"I can't tell them that they had a pillow fight?" the girl asked, slightly incredulous.

"Well, no," said Ben doubtfully, exchanging looks with Ken and Winston, "But, more importantly, you can't tell them that those two are dating. Kevin and I weren't on the best of terms when we were kids. In fact we weren't on the best of terms until he started going out with Gwen."

"Of course," Kai agreed, "I wouldn't want to spoil the future." There was a sly smile on her face as she said the words.

"Wait, what do you mean you weren't on the best of terms?" Winston asked, frowning at the bearer of the Ultimaterix.

"He sort of tried to kill us," Ben said begrudgingly.

"And she still risked her life to save his?" the squire asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"And she's still going out with him?" Kai asked, her eyes widening as well.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ken distractedly, "Kevin used to be evil, got locked up for a few years, then got out, met Ben and Gwen again and turned good. Everyone clear on that?"

"Sure," said Kai, taking her eyes off the young man and looking down at the floor.

"Are you okay, man?" Ben asked, leaving Kai's side to go over to his cousin.

"Fine," the college student snapped.

"You sure?" the emerald-eyed teen asked cautiously.

Ken sighed and sank back against the wall, avoiding the eyes of the teens. They wouldn't understand what was worrying him. The only one who could was probably Kevin, and he was sort of the reason Ken was mad at the moment. The young man looked up into his cousin's penetrating, childish, green-eyed gaze and before he could stop himself, told him what was wrong:

"Look, I like Kevin, he makes Gwen happy, but he tried to kill you two once, and who's to say he won't do it again? It's true that he's probably the one person in the world who can protect Gwen not only from aliens, monsters, and creepy stalkers, but also from herself, and I like that about the guy. But if she's in danger with him…I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my baby sister."

Ben pursed his lips, and sank down beside the red haired man.

"Ken, we all worry about Gwen," he said gently, "That's sort of the reason we're all here, remember?"

The brunette boy's weak attempt at humor fell flat and he got back to the severity of the situation.

"There are a lot of people who'd agree with you on that, but Gwen doesn't," Ben continued, "And the one person who would probably agree with you on that more than anyone, is Kevin himself. But he cares about her too much to ever be able to hurt her. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was in love with her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ken agreed, smiling briefly at the teen.

"Good, so then, can we go?" Kai asked, turning to the door. She wasn't good with family moments, especially if they were happening to someone else's family.

"Yes, let's," Winston agreed, reaching past the girl to open the door for her.

Kai smiled in thanks and left the room. The two Tennysons shrugged and left the room after the other two.

* * *

Downstairs, Eunice had just arrived to see her friend getting up as well. Her dress was crinkled and her hair was a mess, but she still looked like a princess, at least to the blonde.

"Good morning, Julie," Eunice said, smiling as she took a seat across from the girl at the coffee table.

"Hey, Eunice," Julie replied, yawning and stretching her arms above her head. Her arms were in the sleeves of Ben's jacket, but rather than it covering the back, Julie had been so tired that she had put the jacket on so that it covered the front of her dress like some strange nightgown. She probably didn't even notice how messed up she looked. The raven-haired girl did notice though, that Eunice had on the same outfit she'd picked out for her yesterday.

"What are you wearing?" the Japanese-American demanded, "You have practically a whole shopping mall right in your closet, courtesy of our beloved friend's boyfriend Kevin, and you wear the same thing you were wearing yesterday."

Eunice smiled at the teasing note in the girl's voice.

"You're one to talk," she replied, smiling at her, "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

"Ha ha," said Julie sarcastically and both girls laughed. Julie sighed as she looked down at her dress. "I wish we could live here. This dress is nicer than most of the stuff in my closet at home."

"Back at Galvan I only have the clothes that Gwen gave me and a lab coat," Eunice agreed.

"When Gwen and Kevin get married, they better invite us here more often," the dark-eyed girl said, a slight smile on her face.

"They're getting married?" Eunice asked, surprised. Then again, it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise that she wasn't invited to the wedding.

"No!" Julie laughed, "At least not any time soon. But they will, someday. They're soul mates. I mean, Kevin practically claims her as his own private property and Gwen threatens any girl that comes within a two feet radius of him. They fight like cats and dogs and make up like…well…I don't even know what to compare their make out sessions to."

"Right," said the blonde, "Speaking of their fights, Ben and Kai walked in on them having a pillow fight this morning."

Julie burst out laughing.

"A pillow fight?" she repeated incredulously, "About what?"

"I'm not really sure," Eunice admitted, "And speaking of Kai, I better check on what she made for breakfast."

"Kai made breakfast?" Julie asked, cutting her laughing fit short to gap at her newfound friend.

"Yes," Eunice said, getting up and starting to head to the kitchen, "So, how were things with Ben last night?"

"Nothing special," Julie said nonchalantly, "We watched Sumo Slammers and went to sleep."

"Oh my God!" Eunice cried. She was staring at the plate of bacon in front of her.

"Eunice?" Julie called, getting up and attempting to draw her arms out of the green jacket, "Are you alright?"

The blonde shook her head and spun around to the sink and bent low over it. At that moment Gwen and Kevin's door opened and the two teens hurried downstairs, fully dressed. Gwen was wearing another dress, this one dark blue and sleeveless with a low neckline and a full skirt. It was strange, seeing her in something that didn't look like part of a school uniform or like it should be worn in the early nineties. Kevin was wearing jeans, as usual, and a black button-down shirt. It was a good look for him. Seeing Julie's concerned expression, the two immediately ran up to her.

"What happened?" Kevin asked, deciding to make fun of her appearance later.

"Eunice is sick," she answered helplessly, still trying to tug her arms out of her sleeves.

"I'm on it," Gwen assured her, already heading for the kitchen, "Help Julie." The last part was directed at Kevin. The dark teen set to work on disentangling the girl from the monstrosity that was his friend's jacket while the red head ran over to her friend and pulled back her hair, every once in a while murmuring gentle words of comfort to her.

Finally Eunice was done and she lifted her head from the sink. Gwen let go of her hair and turned on the water to wash away the vomit. Beads of sweat were streaming down the blonde's forehead as she looked up at the young annodyte. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she felt ashamed for crying in front of her.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. Gwen hugged the girl gently and led her over to the fridge. She opened the door and took out a large bottle of water.

"Here, drink this," the 16-year-old told her, handing it over. The girl drank the water eagerly. Once she was done, Gwen led her back to the couch. Kevin had finally managed to get Julie out of the jacket and put it around Eunice's shoulders. Julie sat down beside her and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders.

The door to Cooper's room opened and the teen walked over to the stairs. Seeing the scene in front of him, he practically ran down and sat down beside Eunice.

"What happened?" he demanded, kneeling down in front of the girl.

"The bacon made her sick," Gwen explained, frowning at the plate in the kitchen.

"Kai made bacon?" Cooper asked, looking up at the red head in disbelief.

"Wait, the hot native chick made breakfast?" Kevin asked back. Gwen glared at him and shoved her elbow into his ribs. The teen recoiled in pain and glared at his girlfriend.

"What?" he snapped.

"Stop calling her that," Gwen told him brusquely.

"Oh, so I have to put up with Cooper and Winston, I'm not allowed to make fun of that damn squire for 36 hours, and suddenly I'm the bad guy?" Kevin demanded.

"Yes," Gwen said calmly.

"So, you're allowed to get jealous and I'm not?" the dark teen continued, his anger close to breaking point.

"Yes," the annodyte confirmed again.

The osmosian's eyes were wide with anger. He took a few steadying breaths before turning back to the three teens and saying:

"Excuse us." He grabbed his girlfriend's wrist and pulled her to the library. There was a smug smile on the red head's face as she was towed from the room by her obsidian-eyed boyfriend.

"That was weird," Cooper commented as he and the two girls stared after the two teens.

"That's Kevin and Gwen," Julie smirked and turned back to her friend, "Feel better now?"

"She needs fresh air," Cooper said, "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," Eunice said gently as the tech-controlling teen held out his hand to help her up and she took it. Julie watched the two blonde-haired teens leave the house with a smile on her mouth.

* * *

Upstairs the two cousins were standing by the younger Kevin's room, deliberating on whether they should knock or not.

"It's the polite thing to do, doofus," the red haired girl said, her arms crossed on her chest as she transferred her weight from one leg to the other.

"Who cares about being polite?" the younger boy snapped at his cousin, "This is Kevin, for crying out loud!"

"Hey!" a loud voice rang through the door, "Are you two gonna come in or what?"

The two cousins exchanged looks. Ben shrugged and twisted the doorknob, letting himself and Gwen inside.

"So, what do you want now, Tennyson?" the raven-haired boy asked, looking at the brunette boy. He was lying on top of the blanket on the bed again, legs crossed, arms folded behind his head.

"Why do you think I want anything?" the young hero asked his arch enemy.

"Because, if she wanted something, she would've come alone," he said, pointing his chin in the direction of the red head.

"How observant," said red head declared, rolling her eyes and coming to sit next to him on the bed, "How's your leg?"

"Better," Kevin admitted, sitting up, "Nice outfit."

"Thanks," she said, a genuine smile spreading across both kids' faces.

"Ugh," Ben groaned, "If this is what you two are like now, I can't wait to find out what happens in the future."

"Shut it, dweeb," the girl said instantaneously, not even turning away from the osmosian.

"Speakin' of the future," the 12-year-old said, his eyes fixed on the girl, "Didn't you say you'd fill me in on what happened?"

"We don't have time for that!" the younger Ben cried, throwing his hands in the sir in exasperation.

"Still haven't found a spell to shut him up?" Kevin inquired, still looking at the red head.

"If I had, do you think he'd still be talking?" she shot back, a slightly amused smile on her face.

"True," he admitted, turning his attention to the boy who had yet to learn how to keep his mouth shut, "So, what do you want?"

"Ben thinks the teen are hiding something from us," Gwen said, rolling her eyes as she turned her head to look back at her cousin. The expressions on their faces told the younger Ben that they didn't believe whatever he was about to say was important. This didn't surprise the boy, but he had expected more from the kid who could absorb anything. It was a shame Gwen had converted him. Then again, they were best friends in the future, so maybe not completely converted.

"Yeah, it was really weird," Ben said, growing excited as he sat down on the foot of the bed, "First of all, Kai Greene got here last night, and-"

"Wait, who?" Kevin interrupted, his eyebrows furrowing.

"This girl Gwen and I met when we were on the road trip with Grandpa Max," he quickly explained, "Anyway, she got here and this morning, when I got up, I heard the older someone talking in the hallway outside yours or Gwen's room, and then when I went out of my room and saw that it was Kai, the older me, Eunice, Cooper, Ken, and that Winston guy-"

"Who?" Kevin interrupted again.

"Questions later!" the angered kid snapped, "Let me finish my story! Anyway, when the older me mentioned you and Kai tried to ask who it was, he cut her off and dragged her into the nearest room and Ken and Winston went in with him!"

The boy frowned as he processed what his future best friend had just said. He finally looked up at them both.

"First of all, who the heck is Wilmer?" he snapped, glaring at the boy.

"He's the Forever Knights' squire," Gwen explained, "Grandma Verdona sent him here to help protect me or something like that. He's the one who took us back here from Bellwood."

"Okay," the boy said, his curiosity apparently satisfied, "Second, whose room were they in front of again?"

"Yours or Gwen's," Ben said, a slight frown appearing on his face again, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"What do you mean, mine or Gwen's?" Kevin shot back, ignoring his question.

"The main bedroom," the Omnitrix bearer tried to clarify.

"Uh huh," said the 12-year-old, lost deep in thought for a moment.

"Well, what's going on?" Gwen asked, now just as curious as her cousin. She was suddenly reminded of the detective Sherlock Holmes when she looked at the osmosian. All that was missing was a pipe, a coat, and a strange hat.

"They were outside my or your room, there was a new girl, she said my name and got hauled off into another room when she started to say something right after the teenage moron said something about me," the boy said, frowning down at the bed, almost to himself, "Well, it's obvious."

"It is?" the younger Ben asked, his eyes wide in anticipation.

"There's some sort of huge secret they're keeping from us," Kevin said, his face serious, "You should find out something else about it. Then we can figure out what's going on."

"Me?" Ben cried, "Why can't one of you do it?"

"Leg, remember?" Kevin asked, gesturing at his injured leg.

"And I really don't feel like getting a lecture from myself once you get caught," Gwen added, smiling a fake smile at him.

"I hate you two," the brunette boy huffed, crossing his arms on his chest.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Well?" the osmosian snapped, looking at the other boy expectantly, "What are you still doing here? Go get us some more clues!"

"Right now?" Ben asked unsurely.

"Yes, of course right now!" the obsidian-eyed boy cried, "We can't wait forever! For all we know the rakari could decide to leave tomorrow and then we'll never figure it out! Go, Tennyson! Run like the wind!"

The 11-year-old was out of the room before Kevin had finished, the door hanging open behind him. The annodyte got up and closed it. She turned around and leaned against the wooden object. As soon as their eyes met, the two kids started laughing.

"You're a genius!" Gwen gasped out in between laughing fits.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Kevin said sarcastically. His laughing fit had ended a lot faster than hers. She finally calmed down and went back to sit next to him on the bed.

"So, what really happened?" the girl asked, the smile still on her face.

"I heard you screaming from across the hall," the raven-haired boy announced, "You saw a mouse and called me to chase it off, then I laughed at you and you started hitting me with a pillow, screaming at me to never laugh at you again."

"Wow," the red head breathed in awe, "You could tell all that from just hearing me yell once?"

"No," the osmosian admitted, "I heard the new chick say something about a pillow fight."

"About Kai," said Gwen, suddenly frowning, "Why did Ben drag her off?"

"The kid was right about that," the 12-year-old said ruefully.

"So, they are keeping something from us?" she asked, still frowning. It was strange how you could go from amused to confused in just a few seconds.

"Duh," he stated, rolling his eyes, "This is the future. Of course there's something they're not telling us."

"You have a point," she admitted, looking down at her hands in her lap briefly.

"Don't worry about it," Kevin tried to soothe her, "We'll find out what it is five years from now, anyway." A smile graced the annodyte's mouth, making the 12-year-old smile as well.

"You still want to know what you missed?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me?" he scoffed, "I've been waiting for you to bring it up again for the past ten minutes."

The red head laughed and launched into the events that he had missed while being out cold.

* * *

Downstairs, Julie watched through the window as Eunice and Cooper disappeared of into the distance down the path.

"Good morning, Julie," Winston's voice greeted her from the top of the stairs. The raven-haired girl looked up to see him, Kai, the 16-year-old Ben and his cousin descending the stairs.

"Hey," she said in turn. Her eyes narrowed when they fell on Kai and she got up from the couch. "You made bacon for breakfast." Her voice was accusing and the girl she had spoken to looked taken aback.

"Yeah, she did," Ben agreed, completely oblivious to Julie's tone of voice, "I hope it hasn't gone cold." His eyes fell on his girlfriend's icy gaze and he pushed past Winston and Kai to get to her. "Jules, what's wrong?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Where's my jacket?"

"You do remember that Eunice is a vegetarian, don't you?" the girl snapped, glaring at her boyfriend.

"Oh no," Ben breathed, his eyes going wide with horror. He had completely forgotten that small factor.

"Oh yeah," Julie snapped back, "She got sick just from the smell of it."

"Is she okay?" Ken asked, his green eyes filled with concern.

"Cooper took her out for a walk," she told him before turning her gaze back to Ben, "She took your jacket."

"I am so sorry!" Kai cried, sinking back into the armchair, cradling her head in her hands, "I didn't know!"

"Well, at least it gave Cooper an excuse to take Eunice out," Ken tried to soothe her. Kai lifted her eyes to look at him unsurely. "The girl's been crushing on him ever since the rakari started chasing us."

"Ken is right," Winston cut in, "And you'd only just met her, so you couldn't have known."

"So, maybe making bacon wasn't that bad an idea after all," Eunice said cautiously, looking at the two young men.

"Yeah," Ben said begrudgingly, "Just don't ever do that again."

"Eunice hates meat," Julie repeated stubbornly, glaring at the brown-eyed girl.

Kai turned to look at the girl, when suddenly something inside her snapped. Ben was hers, and this girl had taken him away from her. The Native American had been trying to get to Bellwood and in touch with Ben ever since he had become famous again. There had never been anything about a girl in his life in the papers or magazines, and so she had figured he was still free. Hers for the taking. Although, no, there had been something about him and Jennifer Nocturne, but that relationship was over in less than a week. But other than that, nothing. The boy had had an enormous crush on her when they were kids, and this girl had waltzed into his life only very recently, if what the tabloids said was true. He was rightfully hers. How dare this Japanese girl not acknowledge that?

"Thank you for pointing that out," she said in a sugar-sweet voice, "Otherwise I was really confused as to why she threw up!"

"Kai," Ben started to say, but Julie held her hand in front of him as if to hold him back.

"No, Ben," she said through clenched teeth, glaring at the other girl, "Let's hear what your _friend_ has to say."

"How was I supposed to know she didn't eat meat?" Kai demanded, snapping up and out of her seat, shouting the girl in the face, "I don't have ESP, and I'm not some freakish alien! And, more importantly, I'm not the one who's jealous here." There was a sly smile as she finished the sentence. She could easily see that Julie felt threatened by her. Kai knew from experience that guys didn't like girls who were clingy and jealous, and that was exactly what Julie was, evidently. Kai wanted to smirk at the thought. Ben would be eating out of the palm of her hand again soon enough.

"Jealous?" the short-haired girl repeated incredulously, "Of what?"

"I don't know," Kai said in a slow and deadly voice, stepping closer to the other girl, "Why don't you tell us?"

Julie opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out of it. To her horror, the girl found tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She gave her now arch rival a death glare and stormed upstairs to her room. Kai huffed and sat brusquely back into her chair, crossing her arms and legs defensively.

At that moment the door to the library opened and Ship hopped out.

"Ship?" he inquired, noting the tension in the room. The little alien had been happy to escape the confines of the library, where he had spent the night. It was a habit of his: he went to sleep in his mistress's arms and when he was sure she was asleep, he would go off to one of her bookshelves and curl up there. For some reason, the books soothed him. Today, though, had been different. He had been sound asleep when suddenly the door had been opened and then slammed closed again by the boy who always hung out with Julie's red haired friend. Yelling had ensued, and then he had seen the dark-haired boy slam the girl into the nearest bookshelf, making it shudder, and kiss her o passionately that the creature had felt it would be rude to keep watching them. Not only that, but he had felt that his mistress needed him, needed his comfort.

"Yeah, Ship," said Ben, tiredly, "Julie's upset. She's upstairs."

"Ship," the alien said and turned into a small version of the battleship he usually turned into and flew up the steps.

The door to the library opened again and the teenage Gwen and Kevin came out. Gwen's all-seeing green eyes surveyed the room and, when she noted that her friend was missing, she glared at her cousin.

"What did you do?" she snapped, her eyes narrowed.

"Nothing!" the brunette teen cried, taking a few steps back from the annodyte, forgetting that he was already on the other id of the room, "I swear, this time I didn't do anything!"

Gwen sighed an exasperated sigh and turned to her boyfriend.

"Could you-" she started, but was immediately cut off by him.

"Sure, babe," Kevin told her, "Go talk to Julie."

Gwen smiled gratefully and ran upstairs the way Ship had just gone, turning back to call over her shoulder: "Nice seeing you again, Kai!"

Kevin turned back to the four teens in the living room and fixed his eyes on Kai.

"Take the room that's fourth on the left when you go upstairs," he said in a voice that sounded perilously close to an order, "Get changed."

Kai looked surprised but got up nonetheless.

"Thank you," she said unsurely, "This house…is yours?"

"Yeah," Kevin told her, "Name's Kevin Levin."

"I know," Kai said, a slight smile on her mouth, "Is this a boarding house?"

"No," Kevin chuckled, "But if we get any more people here I'll have to start charging them."

Kai smiled back and started heading up the stairs after Gwen.

Kevin walked over to the coffee table and sank into the couch across from the one where Eunice had been sitting.

"Alright, Tennyson," he said to Ben, "What did you do this time?"

* * *

A/N: That's chapter 17! Hope you guys liked it. It turns out I sorta lied to you when I said I'd have more time to update. I'm going to the country, so next chapter could take up to three weeks. I am so sorry. I'll try to find a way to update sooner, though. R&R!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Hey guys! I'm finally back! The country was okay, but I think I would've rather stayed in the city. At least there's a decent internet connection here. Also, thank you for all the brilliant ideas and reviews! Special thanks to Rose Aerin, Dark Shining Light, Just Another Fan for Life, Masen Lakin, and Erin 741. Thanks for everything, guys! =)

Marin Barnard, I'm sorry, but still didn't get that email. Or your cell number. I'm not on facebook, or mxit, anyway, but are you sure we can't just do this on fanfiction?

Anyway, on to the story!

* * *

Outside Cooper and Eunice were walking down the dirt path leading away from the house. The morning air was crisp and cool, and soon chased away any lingering feelings of nausea the blonde girl might have had after this morning. She lifted her face up to the sun, basking in its warmth and tightening Ben's jacket around her shoulders to protect her from the wind.

Cooper hadn't mentioned anything to Eunice about Kai or her stunt with the bacon, and for that she was grateful. She wanted to feel the fresh air and beauty around her, if only for a moment. She just wanted to be outdoors, to feel the sunshine on her face, to forget everything and enjoy herself. Who knew how long it'd be before she'd have to go back to Galvan and leave the planet that she loved so much?

"You like the sunshine?" Cooper asked, smiling at the beautiful girl.

"Of course," Eunice confirmed, flashing the boy a brief, model-like smile, "It helps everything grow and makes it more beautiful."

"Huh," the tech-controlling boy said, turning away from her to look up at the sky, "Didn't know they got that much sun on Galvan."

The girl smiled at him shyly.

"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked awkwardly, blushing furiously.

"Well, yeah," Cooper confirmed, blushing just as much as the other blonde, "I mean, you're gorgeous, smart, caring… If you went to some high school, I'm sure every guy would want to go out with-"

He cut himself off with a gasp as Eunice gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The boy looked at her with shocked, wide eyes once she pulled away.

"What – what was that for?" he stammered.

"To shut you up," she said with an amused smile on her face. His expression turned gentle, and a wide smile spread across his face. Eunice's smile widened and she turned on her heel, continuing along the path. Her friend watched her for a moment before following.

The girl suddenly froze. Her moss-green eyes widened in fear and she subconsciously tightened the jacket around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Cooper asked, stopping behind the blonde and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They're here," Eunice whispered, scanning the trees for the source of whatever sound it was that she'd heard. Cooper's eyes widened as he scanned the area. There were no rakari around, although he was absolutely positive that that was what she had meant. What else could have scared the girl so much?

"How do you know?" the blue-eyed teen asked, stepping backwards cautiously and bringing the blonde with him.

"The animals," she breathed back, "They're terrified."

Before Cooper could point out that it could be just that they were terrified of them, since they were, after all, humans, whose species had been hunting these creatures since practically the beginning of time, a gun fired and just barely missed them. A moment later a large rakarus jumped down from one of the nearby trees and sneered at the two teens. He was followed by two others, who soon surrounded the two. Eunice clung to Cooper's arm and whimpered in fear. He wrapped his arms around her protectively, shielding her with his body.

"You silly Earth children," one of them sneered, pointing the gun straight at the boy, "You really thought you could outsmart us? We are the rakari and we know all!"

"That speech again?" Cooper muttered, "Jeez, is there some kind of book for villain clichés?"

"Silence, you fool!" another one snapped from behind them, jabbing his gun in the teen's back.

"Seriously, guys, get some new comebacks!" the blonde teen said, rolling his eyes, pretending not to be the least bit terrified.

"We don't have time for this!" snapped the third rakarus, "Where is the one you call Gwen Tennyson?"

Cooper's face immediately went from taunting to a hard, defiant mask. Eunice felt his arms tighten around her and let out a small, involuntary sigh. Whatever feelings he might have had for her were obviously nothing compared to what he felt for the red haired annodyte.

"You'll never get your hands on her," he vowed and promptly all three guns exploded, giving Cooper just enough time to tug Eunice out of the small circle of aliens, and for them both to escape while they were distracted. The two tore through the woods, every once in a while looking back to find the aliens cursing and shooting at them with their spare weapons.

"How…did they…find us?" Cooper panted as they ran back to the house.

"Does it matter?" the other blonde cried, "We have to warn the others!"

* * *

Back at the house, in the living room, the 17-year-old Kevin listened to what his best friend had to say about what had just happened with his girlfriend and the girl he'd had a crush on when he was a kid. The teen had sunk into the couch across from Kevin's, while Ken had gone to the kitchen to get sodas for everyone. Winston had taken the arm chair. Once he was through, Ben looked at the osmosian hopelessly.

"So, what do you think I should do?" he asked, "It wasn't even my fault!"

"True, but when it comes to girls, that doesn't matter," Kevin announced, "They only want to hear one thing: that they're right and you're sorry."

"Is that what you tell my sister?" Ken asked, a slightly amused smile on his face as he looked over from the kitchen to the small group seated around the table.

"You bet it is," Ben chuckled, "But that's only because it's true: most of the time, Gwen's right and Kevin's sorry for not doing what she said, because it always gets him in some sort of trouble."

"That I can imagine," Winston muttered, rolling his eyes away from the dark teen.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the raven-haired teen snapped.

"Well, it's just that Gwen seems like the kind of girl who knows what she's doing," the squire explained, "and you seem like someone who, well, and please don't take offense, has never listened to anyone in his entire life."

"Oh, yeah?" Kevin yelled, his fists clenching tighter and knuckles whitening, "Well, at least I don't let myself get ordered around like a waiter at one of those fancy French restaurants Gwen makes me take her to all the time, by a bunch of old guys dressed in Halloween costumes!"

"How dare you speak ill of the Knights?" Winston cried defiantly, shooting up out of his seat.

"And quit talking like you're from the ninth century!" the osmosian added, shooting up as well, "It's 2011 for crying out loud! Nobody talks like that!"

"I have never been so offended," the blue-eyed teen stated, putting a hand over his heart, "The Forever Knights are a noble organization who have withstood centuries of battles! Many of the Knights have fallen, and yet we-"

"Oh, it's go time, pal!" Kevin yelled, absorbing the coffee table and jumping the distance from the couch to the arm chair. Winston gave a sound like a mouse caught in a trap before rolling to the floor and out of the way of the enraged teen. The arm chair was knocked over and Kevin stood, enraged, glaring at the squire. Winston made a break for the stairs, which the osmosian blocked the way to, at the last moment ducking under his arm and running as fast as he could up the wooden steps. Kevin followed him, taking them two at a time.

"Get back here!" he yelled.

The two cousins watched the chase until the two teens disappeared around the corner.

"Still think Kevin can't take care of Gwen?" Ben asked the red haired young man as he walked over to the brunette teen and handed him one of two cans of soda he'd gotten from the fridge. From the moment that Kevin had asked what the British teen's statement had meant, the college student had deemed it unnecessary to get any more.

"After that?" Ken asked disbelievingly, nudging his head in the direction of the stairs, "I don't think that qualifies for proof of anything." He laughed. "But you're right, though," Ken said in all seriousness, "He really does care about her."

"See, I know that, you know that, and Gwen knows that," the green-eyed 16-year-old said, "But Julie doesn't know that I don't like Kai and I never will!"

Ken took a long drink from his soda can.

"What does this have to do with Kevin and Gwen?" he asked, eyes narrowing at his cousin.

"Nothing," he admitted, "But Kevin can't tell me what to do, since he's busy beating up Gwen's little friend from the Forever Knights, so, can you give me some advice?"

"First of all, don't take advice from an ex-con," the college student said, frowning at Ben and causing him to smirk, "And second of all, just try to stay away from Kai and spend as much time as you can with Julie."

"I can't just ignore Kai," Ben pointed out, "I love Julie, but I can't pretend Kai doesn't exist. She was taken captive by the rakari, and we have to find out why!"

Ken's eyes widened and there was silence as the teen waited for his older and infinitely smarter cousin to say something.

"What?" he finally asked, seeing that the red haired Tennyson wasn't gonna say anything.

"What did you just say?" he finally asked, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"We have to find out why the rakari took Kai?" Ben suggested, a frown on his face.

"Before that," Ken prompted.

"I can't just ignore her?" Ben asked, his frown deepening.

"No, about Julie," his cousin said, the smile deepening.

"I lo-" the hero cut himself off, realizing what he had just been about to say.

"You love her," Ken announced, a wide smile on his face now. The two cousins stared at each other in silence for a minute.

"So, how do I let her know?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix asked, becoming excited.

"The way every other man in the universe has done from the beginning of time unless they were a mute," Kevin's voice rang out from the top of the stairs. Winston was nowhere in sight. "You tell her."

Suddenly the door burst open and in ran Eunice, quickly followed by Cooper.

"So, I see you finally got that treadmill," said Kevin, pointing at the nearly out of breath Cooper as he and Eunice stood in the doorway.

"What's up?" Ben asked them, leaning forward in his seat, and thoroughly ignoring his best friend.

"The rakari," the blonde girl announced, tossing him back his jacket, "They found us."

There was a short moment of silence as what they had just said sunk in. The three teens in the living room exchanged looks.

"How long do we have?" Ben asked, frowning at his friends.

"About five minutes," Cooper stated and turned back to see if the creatures were following.

"Alright, Ken, get Gwen, Kai, Julie, Winston, and the kids and get them out of here," Ben instructed. His cousin was already halfway up the stairs, while the 17-year-old was already halfway down. He quickly pressed himself up against the railing to avoid being run over by his girlfriend's red haired, older brother. "Guys, we're gonna have to distract them."

"Only, where are we gonna go next?" the osmosian asked, frowning as he walked over to the TV and absorbed its metal.

"We'll figure it out," Ben promised, "Right now let's just focus on not getting Gwen killed."

"Good plan," Cooper stated. Beside him Eunice's eyes hardened and she started to head up the stairs, too.

"Where are you going?" the brunette hero asked her. The blonde stopped and looked back over her shoulder at the three guys.

"I'm going to help Ken," she announced and ran the rest of the way up the stairs, "You're big boys, you can handle a bunch of psychopath aliens intent on killing an annodyte that everyone here cares about more than their own safety."

And with that she was gone.

"Alright, kid," said Kevin, crossing his arms and glaring at Cooper, "We've got three minutes and forty eight seconds. What did you do?"

* * *

Upstairs in Julie's room, the teenage Gwen was busy comforting her friend. There was a tissue box in her lap as she rubbed soothing circles into the sobbing girl's back. Ship rubbed himself against her feet, trying to help soothe her as well, every once in a while muttering "Ship, ship," as if though to say: "There, there."

Julie had just finished recounting what had happened downstairs, but the annodyte had only understood half of what had been said, thanks to the tears. She hadn't thought it necessary to interrupt, though.

"Gwen, it was horrible!" the Japanese-American cried, "What does Ben see in her?"

"I'm sure it's nothing," the red head promised, watching as the other girl wiped away the last of her tears, "Ben doesn't even like Kai. He's dating you, not her."

"Well, yes," the raven-haired girl agreed, "but remember what happened with Eunice?"

"That was different," the 16-year-old tried to calm her down, "He thought you two were over. Ben knows better, now."

Julie looked up at her straight-A student of a friend incredulously.

"Well, alright, maybe he doesn't," Gwen allowed, "but he cares about you, Julie, and I'm sure he's just being nice to Kai because she's new."

"You're probably right," the brown-eyed girl said, "Maybe I'm just overreacting."

"No, you're not," the red head said firmly, "Considering how Ben's acted in the past, this is the closest thing you've come to a normal reaction."

Both girls burst out laughing.

"Ship!" Ship chirped in agreement. Julie smiled at her pet and took him into her arms. He curled up there, ready to stay quiet until he was needed again.

"How do you do it, Gwen?" the raven-haired girl asked her friend once they had settled down, "With Kevin, I mean. How do you deal with him?"

"What do you mean?" It wasn't often that someone confused Gwen Tennyson, but this was one of those times. When it came to matters of the heart, she listened, she didn't talk. Everyone knew she was dating Kevin Levin, the toughest guy in Bellwood, and of course they asked about the relationship. But all she ever had to say was that yes, they were doing fine, no, they weren't having any major fights, in fact they had a date tonight, no, neither one of them was cheating on the other, and yes, she was sure. She never had to go into detail about what they did, or how hard it was, dating someone who didn't consider himself good enough for her.

The truth was that Gwen had never really had to deal with the things Julie and Ben were going through. When Kevin had made out with 'Caroline', he had showed up at the annodyte's bedroom window that night and begged her to forgive him. It had only taken a few seconds before she had thrown her arms around his stone neck and enveloped him in a hug, promising that she forgave him, and that as soon as he left she would get right back to the books to find a cure for what the Omnitrix had done to him. He had stayed over that night, not wanting her to miss what precious sleep she could get.

Whenever she caught him looking at another girl in the park, or wherever, she'd elbow him in the ribs, hard. He'd groan and then they'd glare at each other before he gave in and told her that she was the only one for him. She'd smile and hook her arm with his, before they went on with whatever errand the two teens had to do that day.

Most of the time, Gwen envied girls who were normal. Girls like Julie, who weren't overachievers, didn't have to fight aliens, and didn't have to deal with their obnoxious cousins and things like formal family reunions. But she had one thing the other normal girls could only dream of having – Kevin, the perfect boyfriend. And that was one thing she wouldn't give up for the world.

"I mean, like, how did you get him to stop making all those illegal tech deals, or how come you never have to worry about him with another girl?" Julie's voice brought Gwen back to reality. The red head sighed as she turned back to her friend.

"Because I trust him," she told her, brushing a stray piece of hair out of the raven-haired girl's eyes, "And he knows that."

"Even after what happened with 'Caroline'?" she asked, her dark eyes slightly wary. She didn't want to cause any major fights between her best friend and her boyfriend, and knew full well how short-tempered they both were. Heck, after what happened with Jennifer Nocturne, every girl knew that hitting on Kevin Levin would be the last thing they ever did, if they were brave enough to give it a shot.

"That was different," Gwen said, waving it away carelessly, like the horrible experience meant nothing at all.

"Really?" the Japanese-American asked, her eyes narrowed. She should have stopped right then and there, but she didn't. As soon as she felt the girl's pale, porcelain-like hand ball up against her shoulder-blade, the tennis-player realized she'd struck a nerve. But by then it was too late. "Oh, Gwen, I'm sorry," she quickly said, "I probably shouldn't have said that." By now the red head had shut her eyes tightly, like she was trying to block something out, and she was.

"As long as I'm like this, no other girl would want me!" Kevin's words rang in her ears in that accusing tone. The girl remembered how hurt she had been when he announced that he thought she wasn't doing anything to help him. It broke her heart to think that he thought she was so selfish, even more than it had when she had found out he had made out with her worst enemy. Now she remembered how she had even considered dropping the matter altogether, and letting him stay the way he was as punishment. But, no, she couldn't do that. It was unthinkable, like letting someone die right before her eyes.

The annodyte shook her head, trying to clear it of the horrible memories. Instead she focused on what had happened a few days ago in the forest, what Kevin had told her then. An involuntary smile spread across her face, chasing away all the horrors of what had happened months ago.

"Gwen?" her friend's concerned voice brought her back to the physical world once more, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the red head answered, opening her eyes and smiling at the other girl.

"I know that smile," Julie said, taking her friend's hand from her back, "What did he do?" Excitement lined the girl's face, a welcome change from all the sadness and gloom her own boyfriend had brought on her.

"I'll tell you as soon as you change," the 16-year-old promised, getting off the bed and dragging her friend to look at herself in the mirror, which hung on the wall next to the door, giving her just barely enough time to set her beloved pet down on the bed, "You look like hell."

The Japanese-American gasped when she saw her reflection. Her hair looked like she hadn't brushed it in weeks, her eyes were blood-shot, and her dress was wrinkled beyond repair.

"And I thought you were supposed to be the witch," she breathed, clamping a hand over her mouth in shock and horror.

Gwen rolled her eyes and steered the surprised girl over to the closet. Julie smirked and started rifling through the clothes while Gwen sat back down on the bed. The tennis player's mind strayed off to last night when she had been looking for an outfit for Eunice and from then to breakfast. Her hands clenched around a pink shirt as she remembered Kai. She still couldn't believe that that, that _nobody_ was trying to steal her boyfriend. Of course, she could understand that Ben's fame was bringing more than just the attention of the press, but seriously? A girl who he had almost made out with when he thought they were broken up, and another girl who he had had a crush on when he was a kid appear in one week? What next? Jennifer Nocturne shows up with a gift basket and makes out with him on the couch?

"Julie?" Gwen asked in a concerned voice, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Gwen," the raven-haired girl promised as she slipped out of her yellow nightmare of a dress and into a light green one. Seriously, why were there so many dresses in this place? This house belonged to Kevin's father, not his mother.

Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal Ken, a flushed and worried look on his face.

"Ken?" the red haired girl said as both girls turned to look at him in surprise, "What's the matter?"

"The rakari found us," he said, "You need to get out of here."

"_We_ need to get out of here?" the annodyte repeated.

"Yes," her brother agreed, "Ben, Kevin, Cooper, and Eunice will hold them off until we get you to safety."

"If Kevin's staying, I'm staying too," the 16-year-old girl said stubbornly.

"And I'm not going anywhere either," Julie added, frowning as she tried to button up her dress faster.

"Look, you two can take it up with them downstairs," he said, obviously eager to get away from the creeps who were trying to kill his beloved sister as fast as humanly – well, in his case, anyway, – possible, "Right now, let's move!" With that he grabbed his sister's wrist and dragged her out of the room.

"Wait, I still need to-" Julie was cut off as Ken grabbed her wrist, too and pulled her out of the cozy bedroom as well, causing the girl to hold up the dress with her free hand while she was unceremoniously dragged downstairs with her friend.

"Ship, ship?" the alien asked, looking up and around the now empty room before flying out of the room after his mistress.

* * *

Hiding around the corner stood the younger Ben, not having missed a heartbeat of what was going on downstairs. He had witnessed the arguments between Julie and Kai and the teenage Gwen and Kevin, the conversation between the guys, Kevin chase Winston upstairs and then the squire run into Kai's bedroom, Eunice and Cooper running in and announcing that the rakari were coming, and was right now in the middle of watching the second guy-talk with Cooper. It was really more of a talk-show. You could film a whole reality TV show in this house called 'Nine Teens and Three Kids Stuck in a Cabin in the Woods for a Week'. He was quickly losing interest, though. The eleven year old had never been that big a fan of talk shows, anyway. He turned on his heel and headed back to the 12-year-old Kevin's room, where his cousin was in the middle of telling him what had happened at Mr. Smoothie's.

"Weird, huh?" she asked, referring to the part about them thinking she was some girl called Umolise.

"Definitely," Kevin agreed, frowning at the young red head.

"Hey, guys!" the young brunette hero cried, running in and plopping down on the bed.

"What is it now, Ben?" his cousin demanded, "Aren't you supposed to be looking for more clues?"

"Well, I would, except we're under attack!" he yelled, his emerald green eyes wide.

"What the hell are you talking about, Tennyson?" the younger osmosian asked, his frown deepening.

"The rakari," he explained, "I told Ken to get everyone to safety, while I, Cooper and Kevin hold off the aliens. Well, Eunice was supposed to help, too, but for some reason she decided to come up here and get everyone else, too."

"Hold on, you told them that?" Gwen asked, "Or the future you told them that?"

"The future me, dufus!" the young hero snapped, glaring at her impatiently.

"Don't talk to her like that," the 12-year-old said in a low threatening voice, crossing his arms on his chest defiantly. His old enemy looked at him in surprise while the red head hid a smile. She liked the new Kevin, there was no doubt about that, and she liked how nice he was to her, too. Her smile widened as she remembered how good, and, well, _right_ it had felt, falling asleep in his arms.

"Ugh," she heard her overly obnoxious cousin groan and bring her back to reality, "Can you two be gross, and all lovey-dovey some other time and place?"

"Shut up, dweeb," the young annodyte snapped, blushing and looking down at her lap.

"What she said," the boy's future best friend agreed, pointing his chin at the red haired girl, seemingly oblivious to her blush. In truth, he felt like blushing, as well. A week ago, he had been trapped in the Null Void in a jail cell, damning all Tennysons to the fiery pits of hell, and now he was lying in his own bed in his father's log cabin, defending his arch enemy's cousin, the very same one who had helped put him in there in the first place. The universe had a very twisted and bittersweet way of giving him another chance in life, that was for sure.

"Whatever," the younger boy dismissed their words and got back to the matter at hand, obviously satisfied that he had embarrassed the couple, "Anyway, Ken's gonna get us out of here, and we're gonna miss another fight!"

"Um, Ben?" said Gwen as if though she was talking to someone very stupid, which, of course, she was, "Kevin can't fight, remember?"

"To be fair, I could if you used a spell," the osmosian interjected. The young hero barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, sure!" he cried, "She'd probably snap your leg off!"

The red head glared at him and muttered a spell under her breath. Immediately the young boy started rising up to the ceiling by his ankle. The girl's glare turned into a satisfied smirk and Kevin burst out laughing beside her.

"Not funny, Gwen!" her cousin huffed, crossing his arms on his chest with some difficulty and rolling his eyes.

"Yes, it is," she disagreed, "Now, we're gonna do exactly what the older you said and get out of here and let them handle everything, got it?"

"Wow, and I thought you were scary in the future," the 12-year-old beside her muttered. The red head smirked and not taking her eyes of her cousin replied, "You have no idea."

"Come on, Gwen!" Ben cried, his eyes now pleading with her, "I know you want to get in on the action, too!"

The 11-year-old girl hesitated. It was true, she did want to help out, but for some unfathomable reason, she also wanted to help Kevin. He had saved her life, again, and even though she had saved his now, too, she still felt like she owed him. The girl knew she was supposed to be the very essence of everything good and right, but sometimes it was so hard to do what was right! She suddenly felt a slightly cold hand on her shoulder and turned around to the young osmosian.

"Remember what I told you two, three, give or take, nights ago?" he asked quietly while the other boy stared at them. The red head nodded in response. "Then do it. Let them handle those freaks."

A small smile crossed her face.

"How come you're suddenly the voice of reason?" she asked gently. A frightened look replaced the determination in the obsidian-eyed boy's eyes.

"I know," he growled, "It's freaking me out, too." The girl giggled and turned back to her cousin.

"You heard him, doofus," she said, making him fall down on the ground with a loud _thump_, "We're going."

"Ugh," Ben groaned again, "Do whatever you two want. I'm staying right here and fighting."

"No, you're not," Ken's determined voice came from the doorway. The kids had been so engrossed in their fight, they hadn't even noticed the door opening. "Kevin and Gwen are both right, Ben. Sometimes you need to just sit back and let someone else handle everything."

"But that's not fair!" the 11-year-old whined. Ken narrowed his eyes at him.

"Am I gonna have to force you into the Rustbucket, or are you gonna come willingly?" he asked.

Now the younger version of his cousin narrowed his eyes too, and for a few seconds, neither of them moved an inch.

"Alright," Ken finally said with an exasperated sigh, "You asked for it." And with that he hauled the young, protesting brunette boy over his shoulder.

"Take him away, officer," Kevin said as he and Gwen both burst out laughing. The red haired young man smiled as he turned back to the other two.

"Be back for you two in a sec," he promised and left.

Once he was gone the laughter subsided.

"We're not gonna be here when he comes back, are we?" the young annodyte asked.

"I'm not," her future boyfriend agreed, threw off the blanket, and got out of bed cautiously, testing out if the spell Gwen had used on him when her annoying cousin had left the room the first time that morning worked, "But you are."

And with that he grabbed the girl's arms and pinned her to the bed, holding her arms to the headboard.

"What the heck are you doing?" she cried, trying to break the boy's hold. It was no use. He was at least three times as strong as her.

"I'm sorry, Gwen," he muttered and swung a leg over the red head so that he was straddling her, "But this is for your own good." The young osmosian reached over to the desk that was placed so conveniently next to the bed, pulled one of the drawers out, and tore off the metal coil on the side. He wrapped the coil around her wrists and then attached it to the headboard, making sure that she couldn't escape.

"You're not gonna get away with this," she threatened, her emerald green eyes locked onto his obsidian ones, "If they don't catch you, the rakari will."

"No they won't," he announced, satisfied with how fully restrained the girl was, but not moving an inch away from her.

"How do you figure?" she inquired, narrowing her eyes at him. The slightly disbelieving look on her face was met with a smirk.

"Because I'm just that good," the 12-year-old told the girl, and was off her in a flash, "Later, babe."

Gwen opened her mouth to retort but he was already gone.

"Never call me that," she grumbled at the ceiling.

* * *

Across the hall, next to the younger Ben's room, Kai was changing. She had easily found a purple strapless top and dark blue jeans that were rolled up to her knee. She studied her reflection in the mirror and could only come up with one word to describe the outfit: sexy. The purple went wonderfully with her complection, and showed off more skin than most of her other shirts did. The jeans she had chosen only because she didn't want to look like a hooker and go with the leather mini skirt she had found at the back of the closet. She had also found a pair of handcuffs, and several other things she would later have to tell Kevin about. If she remembered them. Right now the Native American was too preoccupied with trying to win over a boy whose heart she had broken six years ago.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the English boy with the strange, bowl haircut ran in, shutting it behind him.

"What are you-?" Kai started, but was once again cut off. Winston covered her mouth with his hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, causing them both to topple into the bed. The girl squirmed in his hold, trying to bite his hand and scream for help.

"Sh!" he hissed, tightening his grip on her, "He'll hear you!"

"Mm hmm mm hmm hm hm hm!" Kai tried to yell against his hand.

"Fine," the boy huffed, almost like he'd understood what she'd just said, "I'll let you go, but don't scream!"

"Mm hmm," the dark haired girl agreed, nodding her head. The teen's arm cautiously left her thin waist and she immediately elbowed him in the ribs. Winston whimpered in pain and his other hand disappeared from the girl's mouth. She rolled over and was straddling him in an instant.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Kai snapped, pinning him to the bed, her hands on his shoulders.

"Hiding from Kevin," Winston replied, "And what are you doing?"

"Trying to go for more than twenty minutes without someone covering my mouth with their hand!" the girl snapped back, getting off and letting the squire get up, "What does he want with you?"

"I'm guessing I annoyed him somehow," the blue-eyed boy said, remaining seated on the bed, and awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. His eyes suddenly landed on Kai's reflection in the mirror, which she had begun to stare at again.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically, grabbing a brush and dragging it through her thick, long hair, which had gotten tangled up in knots. She had been stuck in the middle of the woods, after all, for three days. There weren't too many hair salons out in the wilderness. "And how on Earth did you manage to annoy such a level-headed man as Kevin Levin?"

"That doesn't matter," the squire promised dismissively, smirking at her sarcasm, "And stop that. You're doing more harm than good to yourself." He was referring to the Native American's desperate tugging and pulling at her hair.

"And I suppose you could do a better job?" she asked, giving up on getting the brush out of a particularly tangled lock of hair and letting it hang, while she opted for turning around, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her unwelcome guest.

Winston tried to hide his laughter as he replied, "Better than you. Come over here."

Kai rolled her eyes and sat back down on the bed, letting the boy tend to her messed up hair.

"What happened to you, anyway?" he asked while working the brush calmly through the tangled mess, "When the rakari captured you? Why did they do it?"

"I don't know," she admitted, wincing as he tugged on a strand, "They wouldn't tell me. What are they doing here, anyway?"

"They're after Gwen," Winston told her, sighing sadly, "Evidently one of them made a prophecy about a human annodyte who would wipe out the entire race, and they set out to find and destroy her."

"Isn't that what happened to Harry Potter?" Kai chuckled.

"Harry who?" Winston asked, frowning at the back of the girl's head.

"You've never read Harry Potter?" she asked, surprise marring her tone.

"No, I haven't," he admitted, "We Knights have no time for anything that doesn't have to do with alien technology or dragons."

"What a strange life that must be," the dark-skinned girl mused, "I've lived in the desert my whole life, and even I have time for reading."

"How lucky you are then," the squire muttered.

"Back to the aliens," Kai said, snapping out of her thoughts, "Why do they think it's Gwen? Is she an annodyte?"

"She's the only known human annodyte who uses magic," Winston corrected her, "And look where that's gotten her."

"You like her, don't you?" the girl giggled, turning her head half-way to see his reaction.

"She is a close friend," he hastened to assure her, not wanting rumors to spread throughout the entire house while he was already on thin ice with the red head's boyfriend, "Now hold still! It'll hurt more if you don't."

"Many boys say that," Kai laughed, turning her head back around, referring to the boy's first statement, "Especially if they do like a girl."

"What about you and Ben?" he snapped, desperate for a subject change and not even noticing that this was what the girl had wanted all along, "Don't you like him?"

"Of course I do," she said with a sigh, "I've liked him ever since we were kids."

"Kevin said you wanted to train him when you thought he was going to turn into a werewolf," the brunette teen snickered.

"Shut up!" the brown-eyed girl laughed, half-turning again, "I was ten years old! What do you expect?"

"Well, certainly not what Kevin was thinking, I'm sure," the blue-eyed boy laughed.

"Kevin doesn't exactly seem like Gwen's type," Kai said, now wanting to change the subject again, "He's not, well, a prep."

"Of course not," Winston agreed, "He's the exact opposite of that."

"Well, then why is she with him?" the girl demanded, frowning at her closet door.

"Maybe she was tired of all that stuff," the squire mused, "There, all done! You look gorgeous enough to be a princess now."

"How charming," the girl laughed, turning around to smile at her new-found friend, "If you ever want to have a sleepover and braid each other's hair, let me know."

"Hilarious," Winston stated, rolling his ice-blue eyes.

"Seriously, though," the dark and now tidy-haired girl said, looking at him over her shoulder, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said and both got up off her bed, "Shall I escort you down to breakfast?"

"Breakfast!" she gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth, "Eunice! I completely forgot about that! How is she?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "She's not back from her walk with Cooper yet. But I'm sure she's fine."

"I hope so," Kai said, looking down at the floor with worried eyes, "I really didn't mean to do anything bad."

"You didn't," the British teen tried to assure her, "It was an honest mistake."

"You're right," she said finally, "Let's just go downstairs."

"My thoughts exactly," Winston agreed and held the door open for the beautiful girl-

-and ramming right into Eunice.

"Oh, Eunice!" he cried, steadying himself and grasping the girl's shoulders.

"Hi, Winston," the blonde said distractedly, "What are you doing in Kai's room?"

"He was helping me," the Native American said quickly, "Are you alright? I am so sorry about breakfast! I didn't know you were a vegetarian, and-"

"It's alright," Eunice hastened to assure her, taking her hands and squeezing them lightly, "We all make mistakes."

Kai smiled gratefully and pulled the girl into the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her face a worried mask. Winston had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. The dark haired girl's acting was so terrible that only a fool would fall for it. Well, a fool or an overly innocent Unitrix core, who had only been on this planet once and had met only three people, all of whom had no reason to lie to her.

"I came to warn you," she stated, "Cooper and I were in the woods and the rakari attacked. They'll be here in less than five minutes. We need to get out!"

The two teens exchanged glances, and the squire was sure he caught a flicker of fear in his companion's chocolate brown eyes.

"Well, then, we have no time to waste," he said, "Let's go get the others and get them out of here."

"Ken can get them," Eunice said, a little uncomfortable, "Let's get downstairs to the Rustbucket."

"I agree," Kai stated, and both of them exited the room. Winston's eyes widened but he merely shook his head, deciding not to pry, and went after the two girls.

* * *

Downstairs, the older Gwen was arguing with the teenage Kevin…again.

"It's not up for discussion, Gwen," the teen snapped at his girlfriend, hands balling up into fists. Ken had literally dragged her and Julie down here and left with a curt "Deal with this," before running up the stairs again. And now, the 17-year-old and his friend were dealing with it. They still had 42 seconds to spare before they'd have to just drag the two girls to Kevin's car, lock the doors, and put the vehicle on autopilot to take them as far away from here as possible. Cooper, meanwhile, sat quietly on the couch, trying to keep track of everything, and Ship stood next to Julie, ready to defend her if the need might arise.

"I'm not leaving you to deal with these things all by yourselves," the aforementioned girlfriend of the osmosian stated stubbornly.

"Really, Julie, it's just not safe," her cousin told the tennis player, trying desperately not to anger her even more.

"I have Ship," she argued, "I'm not defenseless."

"That is true, but-" the young hero cut himself off as he heard an ear-splitting scream from upstairs. All five teens turned to see Ken hauling the 11-year-old Ben down the steps.

"Congratulations, Tennyson," Kevin said to his friend, momentarily forgetting the fight, "I didn't think it was possible for you to get any more girly, but I guess I was wrong."

The younger Ben glared at the osmosian as he was carried out of the room. Moments later, Eunice, Kai, and Winston appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Um, Ken?" the brunette teen said to his cousin once he was back inside, "Where are the younger Kevin and Gwen?"

"Upstairs," he answered.

"You left them alone?" Gwen snapped, momentarily forgetting the fight with her beloved osmosian as well.

"Well, yeah," her brother admitted begrudgingly, "They didn't put up that much of a fight, so I left them-"

Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were already halfway up the stairs. Everyone in their right minds knew that Gwen and Kevin put up more of a fight than anyone, especially when they were told that they couldn't be in a fight, and for some reason, no one wanted to believe that all of a sudden that had changed. They quickly pushed past Eunice, Kai, and Winston to get to the door and burst through it to find…

An 11-year-old red haired girl tied to the headboard with a metal coil, thrashing wildly and trying to break free.

"What happened?" Ben asked as he and Kevin went to work on untying her.

"Kevin happened," she growled and sat up, rubbing her wrists while her saviors stood back to regard her curiously.

"Where is he?" the older her asked, frowning as she looked around the room for any sign of the 12-year-old, not even bothering to ask how in the world it was possible that he was out of bed.

"He ran out of the room as soon as he was sure I was tied up securely," the young annodyte snapped, her emerald green eyes glowing with rage at the osmosian.

Suddenly, a bullet fired through the window, narrowly missing the four of them. The teens froze and exchanged shocked looks. A lot could happen in five minutes, but it seemed like the rakari had finally arrived, and were already firing. Several more bullets flew in through the window, and everyone ducked.

The older Ben gasped.

"Julie!" he cried and bolted out of the room.

"Great, so what are we supposed to do?" Kevin growled, absorbing the hardwood floor.

The older Gwen put up another force field over them, and they could hear the dull clang of the bullets against it.

"Since when do you ever think anything through?" the younger Gwen replied, frowning at him.

"She's got a point," the 16-year-old red head admitted, turning briefly to smile at her boyfriend teasingly. He rolled his eyes in response.

They heard the muffled grunts of someone climbing in through the window, and peeked up over the side of the bed to see one of the hideous creatures climb in through the broken glass.

"Finally, something I don't have to hold back with," the osmosian muttered, and ran over to the alien, wrestling him for a moment, before he tumbled back outside.

"How did it even get up here?" the younger girl asked, as the other two stepped over to the window, the older annodyte's shield having disappeared the moment the rakarus had attempted to climb in, since the shooting had stopped, if just for that one moment. Now, they could see him on his back on the ground, while his companions (about eight of them,) watched his every move slowly.

"They're up there!" he cried, pointing at the window. Immediately all guns were fired. The older girl put up her shield again just in time.

"Move!" the younger her cried, and they ducked out of the room, just as the rakari started jumping up to the window.

The three of them ran back to the stairs, where they all ducked down and surveyed the scene downstairs, where a full-on battle was going on. The glass walls were shattered, the furniture was turned over, ruined, ripped, smashed, torn, and basically destroyed.

The older Ben was flying around the room as Jetray, shooting lasers out of his eyes and tail, while five rakari were shooting at him with their ray guns. Eunice had summoned a snake to absorb, and was dodging, evading, tripping, and hitting every alien that dared take a shot at her. Ship had turned into Julie's robot suit, and was now firing at several rakari at once, while still protecting the Japanese-American. Winston was using one of the tongs that had been standing by the fireplace as a sword, and was attempting to ward off a few of the alien freaks. This, however, was proving fruitless, as one rakarus fired a ray at the weapon, if you could even call it that, and it promptly melted.

"Uh oh," the squire said, turning from the melted tip of the tong to the sneering faces of the three rakari. They all lifted their guns, ready to turn the boy into nothing but a pile of ashes, when suddenly, one of them had his feet knocked out from under him, the next fell down on the ground face-first, and the third was immediately knocked to the side. Once all three were on the ground, they revealed a smiling Kai Greene.

"Thanks," Winston said, a surprised smile on his face.

"Consider it payment for helping me," she replied, and pushed the squire out of the way of yet another ray gun.

Meanwhile, Cooper was doing all he could to destroy the aliens' weapons, but they had so many on them! And some of them weren't even mechanical, so there was absolutely nothing he could do about that. Ken was a few feet away, putting to use his limited knowledge of karate. He silently thanked God for a sister who had a black belt in the sport, as another one fell down to the ground.

"Haven't you guys ever heard that breaking into another person's home is wrong?" Jetray asked, dodging yet another ray.

"We wouldn't have to break in here if you would just give us what we came for!" a female rakarus yelled back.

"Yeah," the alien laughed, "Like that's gonna happen."

Upstairs, hidden behind the banister, the younger Gwen gasped.

"That's Sintyana!" she whisper-screamed, and Kevin clamped his large, calloused hand over her mouth, effectively cutting off the girl's voice.

"Who?" he snapped back in a low voice.

"Long story," the girl said, prying his hand away from her mouth and turning back to the scene downstairs. Suddenly, they heard some clattering from the younger Kevin's room, and the door burst open, revealing six more rakari.

"Oh, come on!" the raven-haired teen cried, shielding both annodytes.

"Step aside, boy," the leader sneered, "All we want is the annodyte. No one else needs to get hurt."

"Over my dead body," the osmosian growled, absorbing the floor, turning his hand into a mace, and swinging at him. All too soon, the two had gotten much too absorbed in their battle, and Kevin left the two girls unprotected.

The older Gwen threw pink energy discs at the aliens and said to her younger self: "Go find Kevin and Ben and get out of here. We'll find you."

"But-" the girl started to interject as her older self put up a shield to protect her from the bullets, ray guns, and occasional knives thrown at her.

"Go!" she yelled, as the shield shattered and she ducked to avoid the shots. Without thinking the 11-year-old girl hopped up onto the banister and avoided the rakari, before reaching the stairs and sliding down the rest of the way. She was greeted by another three rakari. They all sneered at her, expecting a little girl to be no challenge at all. They were sorely mistaken.

With a grin the girl took out two of them with a swift roundhouse kick, but the third one…was Sintyana.

"Oh, you silly, silly girl," she laughed, "You might have gotten the drop on me once, but not again."

Gwen yelled out another spell and hit her with an energy blast square in the chest. The rakarus doubled over for a moment, before she looked up again, laughing sinisterly.

"Where's your boyfriend?" she sneered, "Did one of us get him already?"

That did it. Before each of them could understand what was going on, Gwen had her pinned to the floor, pointing the rakarus's own gun at her.

"Who's the silly one now?" she smirked.

* * *

Outside, the younger Ben was silently fuming, as he sat at the kitchen table. The world was so unfair! Why did he have to sit in the Rustbucket when everyone else got to fight? Well, maybe not everyone. Speaking of the other unlucky souls who didn't get to stay and kick rakari butt, where were they? The 11-year-old looked up to the window and gasped. What he saw shocked him. The aliens were attacking! And, by what it looked like, there were at least as much as there had been at the clearing in the woods, and some of them were even attempting to jump into the second story windows! Anger overtook him again. He knew for a fact that he was the only one out of the house, so why were the aliens attacking? Didn't they know to wait until their enemies were gone before attacking?

Suddenly, the door burst open, and there stood the younger Kevin.

"Kevin?" Ben asked in astonishment. The look in the 12-year-old's eyes was pure rage. And it was, apparently, directed at the bearer of the Omnitrix.

"Why aren't you out there?" the osmosian demanded. For some unfathomable reason, the aliens had decided to leave the RV alone. This just proved that these aliens were the dimmest things in the universe. "Isn't that what you do? Help people?"

"Well, yeah," the young boy agreed, "But not when they don't want me."

The obsidian-eyed boy stared at the stubborn brunette boy for a long moment.

"You're an idiot,": he finally concluded, "Besides, don't you want to get in on the action?"

"Well, duh," the green-eyed 11-year-old agreed again, rolling his eyes, "But it's not worth it. I'll probably get some lecture from Gwen once this all blows over."

"I just tied her to my bed," Kevin announced, pointing with his thumb back at the house, "You think that won't get me a lecture?"

Finally Ben cracked a smile. His eyes suddenly trailed back to the rakari that were hastily jumping in through the window.

"Hey, isn't that your window?" he asked, pointing at the hideous creatures. Kevin looked back over his shoulder to check that the Omnitrix-wearer wasn't mistaken, and suddenly his face drained of color. It was his window…and that was his room…and in his room was-

"Gwen!" the two boys cried out at the same time, and ran out of the RV towards the aliens. Ben pressed down the dial of the Omnitrix and changed into Stinkfly. He flew up into the sky to check that the room was empty, while his companion absorbed the house and went to work on fighting the aliens that were trying to reach the girl who he was pretty sure he would end up dating in the future.

"She's not there," Stinkfly announced, firing some of that disgusting goop at the rakari.

"Well then," Kevin smirked, smiling at the remainder of the aliens devilishly, "This just got fun."

The remainder exchanged looks of pure terror. Everyone had heard of Kevin Levin, the unstable osmosian, and what he had done. Nearly every villain in the galaxy was terrified of him, including the rakari. But, since Gwen had been their main target, no one had paid too much attention to the osmosians in the group. Now, though? They literally ran screaming.

"Huh," said the 11-year-old, as the Omnitrix timed out and he turned back to his normal, human self, "Looks like they don't like you much either."

"Maybe," the 12-year-old agreed, "But Gwen does." There was a devious glint in the boy's eyes as he turned to the young hero. He, in turn, rolled his eyes and turned back to the house.

"Let's go see if there's any more of them," he suggested, and both ran off back to the house.

When they got to the front of the building, both could see that the glass walls were shattered, and got out of the way just in time, as Eunice tumbled outside through the broken glass.

"Ugh," she groaned and pulled herself up on her arms, just as another rakarus hopped out after her, its gun directed at her sternum.

"Give up yet, beautiful?" he sneered. The blonde only glared at him defiantly. "Alright, then."

"Eunice!" another shout could be heard, and all of a sudden, the weapon levitated out of the creature's arms and flew into Cooper's as the blue-eyed boy ran out and shot at the creep. "Are you alright?" he asked once the alien had run into the nearby forest. He kneeled down next to the girl.

"Um, we're just gonna-" the younger Ben started and was already backing up towards the house.

"Um, yeah," his old enemy said and both ran into the fray of the action. Neither of the teens had noticed them.

"Why do you care?" the green-eyed girl snapped, shifting her gaze to look down at the ground and away from Cooper, "Shouldn't you be in there protecting Gwen?"

"Gwen's got Kevin, Ben, Ken, and, well, basically everyone," the tech-controlling boy told her, "And what are you talking about, why wouldn't I care?"

"I don't really think the time's right to be talking about that stuff," Eunice stated, as he helped her get up, "We need to help rid Kevin's house of those creeps."

"You're right," Cooper said and turned back to the gapping hole in the window. Both of them jumped through and back into the action.

By now the older Gwen and Kevin's fights had made it downstairs, and the two kids were helping deal with the monsters that seemed to be both coming from every side, and had an immense supply of weapons on them. Thankfully, the younger Ben's Omnitrix had recharged again. The 11-year-old Gwen and Sintyana were nowhere to be found.

"There's too many of them!" the 16-year-old raven-haired girl cried, ducking in her suit to avoid getting hit by yet another ray.

"Just give up now," another rakarus sneered, "That way we won't have to kill all of you."

"You're not getting her," the older Kevin snapped defiantly.

"He's right," a new voice announced, and everyone turned to see a tall, female figure in a cloak standing on a flying broomstick, as totally cliché as that might be, in through one of the huge holes in the glass walls. Her face was covered by a hood, but she had spoken loudly enough to get the attention of every living thing in the room. Behind her two huge rock creatures lumbered in through the windows. "You're not."

"Oh, and who are you?" the leader smirked, "Her fairy godmother?"

The girl chuckled. Her laugh was familiar, even though no one could exactly place it.

"Something like that," she agreed and lifted a hand to point at the rakari, "Get them!" The rock creatures lumbered in and soon enough, had driven the remaining aliens that weren't lying unconscious on the floor out of the house and into the woods.

The girl smiled and turned back to everyone in the room.

"Thanks," said the older Ben, "But, who are you?"

The girl chuckled again and threw off her cloak gracefully.

"Charmcaster?" the older Gwen cried.

* * *

A/N: To make up for my absence, this chapter was longer than any other chapter that I've written so far. Hope you liked it! R&R!


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long! Thank you for all the amazing reviews! Special credit goes to Erin 741, Masen Lakain, and The Indian Princess for their ideas and for the terrific reviews. Thanks for everything, guys! =)

Marin Barnard, to exchange documents, you go under DocX on yor profile, choose Connections, click on it, then shoose 'By PenName', type in my username, and click, 'Create connection'. I already made the connection on my end to your profile, so we can start working on the story ASAP. =)

* * *

"Charmcaster?" Gwen cried, staring at the sorceress's face in disbelief.

"Hey, Gwen," the silver-haired witch smiled a small, and slightly shy smile.

"No way!" the anodite exclaimed and enveloped her friend in a warm, friendly embrace.

"Who is this chick?" the younger Kevin whispered to the 11-year-old standing next to him.

"She's the one you make out with in the future," the brunette boy answered, and not like he thought that was a particularly good thing either.

The two girls pulled away and Charmcaster looked over the red head's shoulder at everyone else in the room. Her eyes landed on the two younger boys.

"I hate to be completely predictable, but are they who I think they are?" she asked.

"Yeah, they are. Our grandmother brought them here," the teenage Ben announced and stepped over a fallen rakarus to shake the witch's hand, "It's good to see you're okay. Last time we saw you, you were on a suicide mission to save your people."

"Well, if it was a suicide mission, then why is she here?" the younger Ben demanded, crossing his arms on his chest and glaring at his cousin's old enemy.

"Ben," the 16-year-old girl snapped at him, "Don't be rude."

Charmcaster laughed.

"You know, I'm starting to want you to get hurt less and less," she told her green-eyed friend. Her violet eyes suddenly landed on the 17-year-old osmosian. "Speaking of people who should get hurt."

"Caroline," the teenage Kevin said, his obsidian eyes narrowed, arms crossed on his chest as he stepped forward. The two younger boys exchanged confused looks and then turned their attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Levin," she said in turn, seeming oblivious to the ice-cold stare the teen was giving her. The animosity between the two was unmistakable. Suddenly Kevin's face broke out in a wide smile.

"Good to see you're alive," he stated.

"And it's good to see you haven't fled town with a suitcase full of cash after giving princess here up to the aliens," the silver-haired girl stated, another smile spreading on her face as well. Neither one made any move to approach the other, though.

"Ha, ha," the 17-year-old said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" the younger Ben snapped, looking from the witch's face to that of his cousin's, "Aren't you two supposed to be mortal enemies or something?"

"Charmcaster helped us a couple of months ago," the older him said, "And we promised we'd help her as soon as we could…" he trailed off, a guilty expression on his face as he looked at the sorceress.

She waved it away like it was nothing.

"Great, so now she's part of the team, too?" the 10-year-old snapped, "Next you're gonna tell us that we actually help Vilgax in the future!"

The three teens exchanged looks.

"Oh, come on!" the young hero exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Your annoying cousin aside, I'm here to help," Charmcaster stated, pointedly ignoring the boy, "Your grandma promised me that she would help me free my people if I did. I'm here to protect you from those creeps invading everyone's front lawns back home."

"Story of our lives," Ken muttered, rolling his eyes.

Charmcaster looked over her friend's shoulder at the red haired teen.

"Who's the hot guy with the red hair?" she asked, her lips curving up into a flirtatious smile.

"That's my brother, Ken," Gwen answered awkwardly, stepping away from the girl to introduce everyone, "And this is Ben's girlfriend Julie, and our friends, Eunice, Kai, Winston, and Cooper."

"Let me guess," the 21-year-old girl said, taking a deliberate step forward, her eyes sharp as she scanned the small group before her. Ken took a small step away from her. He could see that whoever this girl was, he didn't want to be anywhere near her. "The Japanese girl is your moron of a cousin's girlfriend – by the way, sweetheart, you could do way better."

"I've been trying to tell her that for months," the teenage Kevin cut in, crossing his arms on his chest. His friend glared at him.

The witch turned towards Kai.

"She's the girl who's trying to steal him from her," she stated then moved onto Winston. Julie's eyes widened as they fell onto the Native American girl's. Kai's face was shocked, but once she caught the tennis player staring at her, she merely gave her a shrug, as if though to say, _And your point is…?_. The Japanese-American's brown eyes narrowed. _Oh,_ she thought, _It's on._

"He likes Gwen, but wouldn't admit it for fear of being hung from a flagpole by his underwear by Levin," Charmcaster continued, seemingly oblivious to the girls' exchange.

"Which is pretty well founded," the 16-year-old brunette hero interrupted this time.

"Would you two shut up and let me finish?" the silver-haired girl barked at the two teens.

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

Charmcaster rolled her eyes and turned back to continue her assessments.

"The hot blonde's crushing on the cute guy with freckles, and he's still love-sick over our little Gwen to see what's right in front of him. If I were you, I'd take the mechanic's advice and go for the newbie." She finished and stepped back proudly to smirk at everyone's gapping mouths.

"Wow," Ken said, clearly impressed, "You read minds?"

"A little," the girl admitted, appearing right in front of him, one of her long, perfectly manicured fingers stroking his chest teasingly, "I can also predict the future, like say who you're gonna marry once all this is over."

"Um, yeah," the college student said awkwardly, taking a big step back, trying to get as far from her as possible, "I think I'll pass."

"Your loss," the girl stated with a shrug, and turned back to address the rest of the room. Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed her surroundings. "We need to get rid of the bodies."

"They're still…alive, though," the teenage Ben said cautiously, "Aren't they?"

"Of course they are," Charmcaster promised, rolling her eyes, "You're too good to ever really do any damage to them. And, yes, even Kevin."

"I kinda doubt that," the 11-year-old muttered.

"Hey, I'm not the one who threw a guy off the Golden Gate Bridge," the younger osmosian reminded him.

"Oh, right," the older him said, looking distant and thoughtful, "That was the first time you tried to kill me."

"To be fair, I only try to kill you when I'm convinced you're evil," the older Ben defended himself, putting his arms up in surrender.

"Nobody's killing anyone," Gwen interrupted, her emerald green eyes hard and pained with the memory of what had almost happened.

"Piece of advice, kids," her fellow sorceress chuckled, "Do what she says, or else. She's got more power than any other witch I've ever known. Could take a while for you to master those powers though." She said the last part deliberately to the red head, a small smile on her face.

"I know," the 16-year-old agreed, not bothering to mention how right the girl really was.

"Hey, has anybody seen Gwen?" Cooper suddenly interrupted, his blue eyes wide with terror.

"She's standing right in front of you," Winston said incredulously.

"I meant the younger Gwen," the tech-controlling teen snapped, glaring at the squire.

At that moment they heard a laugh from the underside of the stairs. It was cruel and sinister, and it wasn't hard to imagine who, or rather what it belonged to.

"I was wondering when you'd notice she as missing," the rakarus sneered, appearing out from under the stairs. The alien looked like she had either just come out of a horror movie, or escaped from some medieval torture chamber. Her black clothes were shredded and stained with rich, dark purple. There was a deep gash on her forehead and several smaller ones on her arms that were already healing. She walked with a limp and had to lean against the banister for support.

"Your precious little…Gwen," she gasped with so much effort that it seemed painful, "is somewhere…very safe…at the moment."

"What did you do to her?" the older Kevin snapped, his eyes cold.

The alien studied him and was then overcome by a laughing fit that ended in coughing.

"You're…the osmosian," she gasped, doubling over in pain.

Finally the anodite couldn't take it any more.

"You need help," she said, rushing over to her side and trying to get the girl to lean on her, "Eunice, get the first aid kit."

"What about the younger Gwen?" the red head's cousin asked, frowning as Kevin and Cooper went over to the alien and made her lean on them. Sintyana tried to resist, but in the end was too weak. If these people were stupid enough to help her, well, then, let them help her. It didn't really matter, as long as she could take out the Tennyson girl and have this whole thing be over with. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the blonde girl run over to the kitchen and search for the first aid kit.

"She can't have gotten far," Ken pointed out, "Chances are, she's still in the house."

"I'll…never tell you…where she is!" Sintyana declared, wheezing with the effort as she was lowered onto the couch.

"Nobody's asking you to," Cooper reminded her.

"Yet," the raven-haired teen added.

"Cooper, Eunice, you two stay here and take care of, um, that," said the older Ben, pointing at the rakarus.

"My name's…Sintyana," she gasped, falling back onto the comfortable piece of furniture and staining it with rich, dark purple.

"Don't talk," Cooper shushed her, "It'll only make the pain worse." Sintyana groaned in response.

"Anyway, you two stay here and search the house," the teen hero continued, pointing at the two boys, "and the rest of us will go search outside."

"And what about the bodies?" the older Kevin asked.

"I'll bet Fourarms can take care of that!" the younger Ben cried and hit the dial of his Omnitrix.

"Greymatter?" he exclaimed, once realizing he had changed into the tiny Galvan, "Oh, man!"

Beside him the younger Kevin snickered.

"Is it just me, or has Fourarms changed a lot over the past year?" he laughed and grabbed the alien from the floor. The boy turned back to the stairs and carried the sulking little creature up so that they could start the search for his cousin.

"Ha, ha, very funny," the green-eyed teen said, noticing the look of pure amusement on his best friend's face and rolling his eyes, "Eunice? You got this?"

"Of course," the girl said and got up from her place at Cooper's side as he worked to bandage up the unwelcome houseguest. A bear promptly wondered out of the woods, as if though summoned. Kai shrieked and grabbed hold of Winston's arm.

"Relax," Eunice said as she walked over to him and petted him, absorbing the animal's strength, "He won't hurt you."

"Right," Kai agreed in a frightened voice, still not letting go of Winston's arm. The squire chuckled.

"Um, Kai?" said the older Ben, stepping over to Julie and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, his laughing eyes never leaving the bewildered Native American, "You want to stay in the house, too?"

"No, no, I'll be fine," she promised, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes.

"Just be careful," Julie teased, a bright smile on her face, "There are all sorts of animals in the woods. Bears are the least of your worries."

"Let's go, Jules," her boyfriend laughed and led her away and out through the front door.

"Ship! Ship!" the alien cried and hurried out after them.

"He's right," the anodite stated, "We should find her before it starts to get dark."

"Huh," Ken muttered, looking out the window at the sun that had already begun to set. The fight had been going on a long time. "Didn't even notice it was that late."

"Yeah, me neither," the teenage Kevin said and turned to Gwen, "We better get moving. If she's out there, then…" The red head put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find her," she finished and her hand fell from his shoulder. Her fingers curled around his and she led him out of the house.

Once they were out the raven-haired teen looked back at the house sadly. He sighed.

"I'm gonna have a hell of a lot of remodeling to do later on," he muttered and hurried after his girlfriend, who was already half-way down one of the many paths that surrounded the wooden structure.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here?" back at the house, Winston asked Kai, "Julie's right, there are a lot of animals out in the woods." The bear that had been lying in the corner growled in the back of his throat as if though to prove the boy's point. Instinctively, the dark-haired girl clutched at his arm again. Eunice climbed in through the broken glass window and picked up two more fallen rakari.

"Don't forget the ones upstairs," Cooper told her and the blonde cast him a dirty look.

"Oh, I won't," she said acidly. It took all of her willpower not to pick up the fallen table and throw it at the teen's head.

"I think I'd rather take my chances," the Native American stated and felt the squire give a small shrug as he climbed over the debris and led her out of the large house through yet another broken window.

"Well, I guess that just leaves you and me, huh handsome?" Charmcaster sneered, linking her arm through Ken's and pulling him out the back door. The college student could find nothing coherent to say as he was being forced to leave against his will.

Eunice was frowning as she heaved the unconscious beings out of the place and dumped them each in a different location as far away from the house as possible. Slowly, she realized that her strength was dwindling, at least that which she had absorbed from the bear, but she could somehow still manage to carry the aliens.

"It's the adrenaline," she muttered as she dragged a particularly heavy one out to the nearby stream, "That's what's keeping me going."

"Ugh," she heard him moan. Her moss-green eyes widened and she turned to see that the creature was stirring. It was a male, his build said it all.

Eunice sighed and dumped him onto a nearby rock, just a few inches from the streambed. If she pushed him just a little further, he would have fallen into the water and possibly drowned. Were these species good swimmers? The girl tried to remember everything Asmuth had taught her, but she slowly realized that they had barely covered Apoplexians, let alone rakari.

The alien turned his head and with another groan opened his eyes to find Eunice's face just centimeters away from his own.

"Ah!" he gasped, instinctively pulling away. "Ah!" he cried again, finding that he was caught between an angry Unitrix core that moved like a snake and a flowing stream, with no weapons. The blonde kid with freckles had destroyed them all.

"How did you find us?" Eunice demanded, her eyes sharp as she glared at him.

His first impulse was to sneer.

"I will never tell! You silly little-" A hard slap hit him right across the right cheek. He tasted blood in his mouth and saw stars.

"How did you find us?" she repeated, hand poised to strike again.

"The Plumbers," he whimpered, "We followed the badges."

The badges! Eunice wanted to slap herself now. How could they have been so stupid?

"What do you want with Gwen?" she continued with her interrogation, knowing full well that at any moment he could just decide to throw _her_ into the stream.

"We want her dead!" he practically yelled back, his beady black eyes narrowed into slits with obvious hatred for the beautiful anodite, "She will destroy us all!"

"So, you just find her and kill her, is that it?" the blonde continued.

"Of course not," the alien smirked, waving the question away like it was a fly, "We capture her, bring her back to the base, and then Umolise lets him have her. It's better, easier this way. Then everyone will know there is no hope for the anodites!"

"Who's Umolise?" Eunice asked, now genuinely curious and completely ignoring the alien's last statements, "Who's he?"

"Now that, I can't tell you," he said, and for some reason, she believed him, "No one out of the main base has even seen him, let alone knows his name. But Umolise…she's the gifted one. The one who knows all."

"She's the one who told you to finish off Gwen," the Unitrix core whispered, stumbling back a step.

"Yes, she is," he agreed, "Now, are we done here? I need to get back to the-" but, again, he was interrupted, this time, by Eunice knocking him full force into the stream.

"AHHH!" he screamed as he fell the two feet and hit the water, "Help!" But Eunice was already halfway back to the house.

Once she was there, she saw Cooper just finishing bandaging up Sintyana.

"How do you feel?" he asked, frowning at his patient.

"Why do you care?" she threw back, sitting up and wincing at the pain.

"Lay down," the teen instructed her, just as Eunice climbed in through the window, "Hey."

"Hey," she snapped and ran upstairs to gather the aliens that had fallen in battle there.

"Let me help you with that," he said, getting up and running after her. Once Sintyana was out of ear shot, he added: "What happened? Why were you gone so long?"

"Why do you care?" she huffed, repeating the exact same words Sintyana had just asked him.

"Eunice," he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder, but she cut him off.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if you _even_ care," she snapped, blinking away tears that were threatening to fall out, "No, I know you don't. All you care about is Gwen. I'm just some silly blonde girl who's staying here and you feel sorry for her. Oh, and she's pretty, too. But that's it."

"What are you talking about?" Cooper asked, clearly bewildered. There was a long silence as the girl's anger gradually subsided

"Just leave me alone, Cooper," she finally sighed, once it all disappeared, "Help the boys search for Gwen. I'll take care of the aliens."

The tech-controlling teen watched her go with wide eyes.

"Love hurts, doesn't it?" Sintyana asked from behind him.

* * *

Outside, Ben and Julie were walking patiently without really seeing where they were going. They were relying on Ship to be their eyes and ears, and just enjoying each other's company while the small alien flew as a toy airplane above them.

"The sunset's really beautiful today," Ben commented, as he looked into the distance at the pink, orange, and yellow that stretched across the sky. It was too beautiful to be real, he thought. "Or, you know, this afternoon, evening, or whatever."

"Yeah, it is," his girlfriend agreed, a small smile on her face at her boyfriend's ridiculousness. "I hate Kai," she added a minute later.

"What?" the brunette teen cried, halting in his tracks and turning to the raven-haired girl as if though making sure that he had heard her correctly. How did they get from talking about the sunset to talking about Kai?

Julie turned away from the sky as well, a sad glint in her eyes. There had been no resentment when she had said those words. Only contempt. Like she was stating a fact, which, apparently, she was. Now, though, the teen could see how upset she was.

"Well, I know I've only known her for, like, a day, but I hate her! It's like she wants you all for herself and I'm just scared that-" she cut herself off with a sob.

"Scared that what?" the young hero prompted her gently, placing a hand on each shoulder. She wouldn't look him in the eye and that drove him crazy. "That I'm gonna dump you and get together with her? Julie, that's crazy."

"You say that now, but what happens when we have another fight?" she asked, finally lifting her eyes. The girl shivered in the slight wind and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Seeing this, the 16-year-old pulled off his jacket and set it around her shoulders. "When this is all over and you have to go back to being Earth's greatest hero and ditch me whenever we have a date planned? When there are millions of other girls out there waiting for us to break up so that they can start dating you and be the next Jennifer Nocturne?"

"Well, then they make the mistake of hitting on Kevin, and Gwen kills them," her boyfriend answered, smiling as he saw the hint of amusement in the Japanese-American's eyes.

"I'm serious, Ben," the tennis player told him, "I have the feeling that there's nothing she won't do to break us up."

"That doesn't matter to me, Julie," he insisted, taking her hands in his own, "Look, I love you, not Kai. Okay?"

The raven-haired girl looked stunned. Ben Tennyson, the guy who was about as romantic as a turnip, and, who, incidentally, Julie happened to care about more than anything in the universe, had just said he loved her. For a moment, the girl was convinced she was dreaming. Then she saw something in his green eyes, something that she had seen in Kevin's eyes more than enough times when he was worried about Gwen. Slowly, the shock turned into happiness, and warmth seemed to radiate through her entire body. A small smile stretched across her mouth and she leaned up to give Ben a quick peck on the lips.

"Okay," she breathed, her brown eyes shining, turned and started to head down the path again. The young hero was left stunned, and wondering if his beloved girlfriend hadn't realized the full meaning of his words.

"Um, Julie?" he said awkwardly, "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yep," the tennis player laughed, enjoying teasing the brunette teen. It was just so adorable when Ben got confused like this.

"I hate it when you act like this," he pouted, sulking after her. She just laughed again in response. The two walked again in silence for a minute.

"Ben?" Julie asked quietly.

"What?" the 16-year-old said resignedly.

"I love you, too," she whispered, just barely loud enough to hear. Ben froze for a moment. A wide grin spread across his face as he realized what she had just said.

* * *

About half a mile away, Kai and Winston were making slow progress. The woods were alive with noise, and Kai jumped every time she heard something.

"What was that?" she whispered, clinging to Winston for dear life as the branches rustled and a dove flew over their heads.

"It was just a dove," the squire snapped, glaring at the trees and cursing them more than his companion. Kai was the kind of girl you just didn't get mad at. "Relax."

"Maybe we should just get back," she suggested, trembling slightly, "If Gwen is out here, something probably already got her."

"If she's out here, then she's fine," he corrected her, a little impatiently, "Gwen can take care of herself."

"Well, if she's fine, then why are we here?" the dark-haired girl snapped, turning her head again as she heard a woodpecker somewhere nearby, "She can find us herself!"

"Relax! Nothing's going to harm you!" Winston insisted and pried her hand off his arm. It felt like she was crushing it. Instead, her fingers curled around his, unwilling to let go. "How on Earth have you survived in the desert for so long?"

"In the desert we don't really have that much to worry about," Kai said in a voice that was noticeably more stable than the one she had used just a few seconds ago, "The coyotes stay away from our village, there are only a few snakes nearby, and the jackrabbits are sweet! Then there are the crows and the birds and the lizards. It's mostly the forest that scares me, though. I feel like anything could be hiding in those trees…"

"Right," Winston agreed, scanning the area as if though he was afraid there was something hiding in the trees at that very moment, "That and the fact that the rakari are wandering the forest, probably looking for us."

"I wasn't even thinking about that!" the girl cried, slapping her free hand to her forehead, "Thanks a lot!"

"Sorry," the blue-eyed teen said, eyes wide in apology. Kai sighed and tightened her hold on the boy's hand subconsciously. Winston had to grit his teeth to stop himself from yelling out in pain.

The two teens continued their walk warily.

"Hold on!" Kai cried, stopping dead in her tracks, eyes wide in fear, "What was that?"

"Nothing!" her friend cried out in exasperation, shaking his hand free of hers, "There is nothing here! Julie was only scaring you! Nothing is going to come and get you!"

"No, listen!" the girl hissed, slapping a hand over his mouth and pressing a finger to her lips. Winston did as he was told. In the distance, he could hear something that sounded vaguely like a stream and someone shouting for help.

"Mh hmm," Winston said against her palm. A smile spread across the girl's mouth, satisfied that for once she was the one keeping someone else quiet. The squire rolled his eyes, understanding the girl's smile. He lifted his hand and pried it away.

"Alright, I heard it, too," he admitted, "Let's go. It sounds like someone's in trouble."

Kai nodded and without further regard of their safety, the couple ran for the source of the sound. It took them a few minutes to reach the stream and when they did, what they saw was astonishing.

"Help!" shouted a rakarus, hanging onto a tree root and trying not to let the current wash him away, "Help me!"

"What happened?" Kai asked, trying to get closer. Winston stepped in her way and looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you honestly forgetting that all rakari are trying to kill us?" he asked her.

"No," she snapped, trying to get around him, "I'm just trying to find out what happened."

"That blonde tried to kill me!" the alien yelled.

"Eunice?" Winston asked, turning back to the alien.

"She wouldn't do that," Kai stated, shaking her head incredulously.

"She tortured me for information and then threw me in the stream!" he yelled, "Help me!"

"No," Winston said, turning around, "If you ask me, you could use a swim. Where's Gwen?"

"What?" the creature asked, frowning in confusion.

"Your friend, Sintyana," the squire explained, "She kidnapped her and hid her somewhere. Now she's at the house that you and the rest of your little group demolished. Where did she hide Gwen?"

"Sinty did it?" he asked in surprise. The expression quickly changed from confusion to happiness. "Then the war's still on." And with that he let go of the branch without another word. The current carried him away, and his shouts of glee with him.

Winston's eyes widened in horror. What if the man, or whatever he was, was right? What if Sintyana really had managed to kill the young anodite? No, then everything, all of this would disappear. Besides, she had said that she was somewhere safe.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, the brunette teen realized that that could be anywhere. While they weren't paying attention, Sintyana could've sent a message to her people and told them to come pick up the young red head. Why hadn't anybody been watching her?

"What do you think happened?" he asked, turning back to Kai, "Kai?" The girl was wearing a frightened expression on her face. Her brown eyes were wide with terror and her whole body was shaking. "Kai? Are you alright?"

"He said she tortured him," the girl whispered quietly, focusing her eyes back on the squire, "Eunice."

"He wasn't serious," Winston tried to assure her, wrapping a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders, "The rakari are liars. Besides, if Eunice really had tortured him, she would've asked him where Gwen was, and he obviously had no idea she was even gone."

"You're right," the girl said, although she still looked terrified. She didn't dare say what she was really thinking. Eunice didn't like Gwen because Cooper liked her. Of course, that still didn't mean that she would be so ignorant as to not look for the younger version of the red head, but if what the rakarus had said was true, then Eunice had a temper. A temper, Kai was pretty sure, she wouldn't hesitate to unleash on the older red head. Maybe the girl was a little more than just the innocent little blonde who loved all living things.

Winston enveloped the girl in a hug, which she gladly returned.

"Let's go back," he told her, letting her go and stepping back. The wind blew Kai's hair in her eyes, and the blue-eyed teen brushed it away. "I'm sure the others will have found Gwen."

"Okay," Kai agreed and let him lead her back through the woods, their hands entwined.

* * *

On a path heading the opposite way that Kai and Winston were going, were Kevin and Gwen.

"We're lost," the red head stated, crossing her arms on her chest and stopping in the middle of the path.

"We're not lost," Kevin grumbled back, looking up at the trees.

"We've been walking in circles for who knows how long, Kevin," his girlfriend snapped, glaring at his back.

"What do you want me to do, go ask the raccoon for directions?" the osmosian asked, pointing at a small possum on the side of the road. The creature lifted its head, frightened to find himself the centre of attention with the couple. He looked from the raven-haired boy to the anodite and scampered away.

"Well, at least the raccoon has a better sense of direction than you," she said, raising a challenging brow.

"Are you saying that a forest creature is smarter than me?" he demanded, hands clenching into fists at his sides.

"No, I'm just saying that we're lost and should turn back," the 16-year-old said, glaring at him.

"We can't go back," the dark teen said, with something like desperation in his voice.

"Why not?" Gwen inquired, taking a few steps towards him.

"Because we have to find her!" the 17-year-old almost whined.

"Kevin," she said stubbornly, "We're not gonna find her going around in circles. We need to go back."

"No," the osmosian said, shaking his head.

"Alright, then," the red head said, following her boyfriend as he walked down the path they had already been down at least five times, "Give me one good reason why not."

"Because," he said defiantly, not letting his eyes meet the girl's. Instead they darted from one side of the path to the other, anxiously trying to find something and coming up empty.

"Because, what, Kevin?" she demanded, "Come on. Let's hear it."

"Because we can't let the rakari get her," he grumbled, still not turning around to look at his beloved Gwen.

She stood for a moment, thinking over the answer. It was perfectly valid, of course, but she could see that wasn't really it. Kevin had another reason for making her tramp through the woods a mere few hours, if that, before dark in a summer dress and keep on getting fallen leaves and branches tangled in her red hair. This was why she preferred wearing it up.

"That's not it, is it?" she whispered, making the obsidian-eyed teen stop in his tracks to see why her tone had changed so suddenly.

"What?" he snapped as she stepped towards him.

"That's not the real reason you're doing this," she clarified, taking his large hand in her small one and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She didn't say anything else, knowing full well that that would be all the prompting he'd need. In a second, she was proved right.

"No," the osmosian admitted, squeezing back and rubbing small circles with his thumb into the back of her hand, "It's not."

"Then what is?" the anodite demanded. He scrunched his face and turned away from her, letting go of her hand. "Kevin, I think I have a right to know."

Nothing.

"Kevin-"

"Because she's you!" he interrupted, turning back to Gwen and practically pushing her against the nearest tree. Her green eyes widened in surprise. The raven-haired teen took a deep breath and calmed down, taking a step back. "Because she's you, Gwen," he repeated, "And if anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

"Oh, Kevin," she breathed, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He hugged her back just as tight and sighed into her hair.

"She's fine," Gwen promised, letting him go and stepping back, "I promise you, she's fine."

"Yeah," the 17-year-old said, lifting his hand up and pulling a twig out of the beautiful girl's hair, "I know."

The red head leaned up and let her lips meet his lightly, but soon, what had started out as a light peck intensified into a searing kiss. Kevin's tongue traced the outline of the girl's lips, begging for entrance, which she gladly granted. Her hands found their way into his ebony-colored hair, playing with it to her heart's content, while his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, crushing her closer.

When they parted for air, Gwen moved her hand to cup his cheek and make him look at her.

"I love you," she breathed.

A smile spread across the osmosian's lips.

"I love you, too," he declared, and with that his mouth descended back down on hers.

Hiding behind a tree a few feet away, someone was watching them.

"Enjoying the view?" Charmcaster's voice interrupted Ken. He jumped and turned to see the witch flying in the air and landing two feet behind him.

"Jeez, you scared me," Ken whispered, clutching his hand to his heart. The sorceress smirked, cocked an eyebrow, and put one hand on her hip. He had ditched her outside a bear's cave, convincing her that the 10-year-old version of his little sister was there.

"We might want to move," she said, taking a step forwards, "Levin's got ears like a bat." She looked over the red haired man's shoulder and her smirk deepened. "Although, it does look like he's…preoccupied."

"Yeah, yeah," the college student said, slightly embarrassed at being caught spying on his sister. Charmcaster narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright, it's not what it looks like."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes widening in mock surprise, "Cuz it looks like you ditched me so you could go spying on your little sister and her boyfriend."

Ken opened his mind to interject, but then though better of it. After all, this girl was both a friend of Gwen's and a magical witch. There was no telling what she could and would do to him.

"Alright, so it's exactly what it looks like," he agreed, and half-turned back to the couple in the woods.

"You don't trust her?" the 20-year-old asked, "Well, that's a first."

"No, I trust Gwen," he told her, not bothering to elaborate.

"You don't trust Levin," she guessed again.

"Well, I do trust him, but, well, he tried to kill them!" Ken cried, not yelling loud enough to be heard by the two teens, "If you had a little sister or brother, and someone tried to hurt them, would you like it if they dated him or her?"

Charmcaster smiled a thin smile.

"My family all died back in Ledgerdomain," she said grimly, "And so did the rest of my people. Gwen wanted to help me, but I sealed the door on her."

Ken frowned, not understanding the last part, but decided not to ask her about it. Probably just an expression.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"It's okay," she said with a shrug, "I don't see what you could've done about it. Anyway, back to Gwen and Kevin. Everyone knows he's done a whole bunch of stuff that he shouldn't have, but he loves Gwen. Really loves her."

"This coming from the girl who made out with him to get to my sister and try to take away her powers," Ken smirked, turning back and starting to head back to their path.

"Hey, in his defense, he was a rock-faced freak who just wanted to be normal again," the girl said, walking back next to him, "And in mine, he was hot, and she had my spell book,"

"Uh huh," Ken said, slightly disbelieving, a smirk on his face.

"Seriously!" she laughed and punched him on the arm lightly, "Come on, I'll race you back home. I think it's pretty obvious she's not here."

"You're on," Ken agreed, a smile on his lips. Maybe the witch wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Back at the house, the younger Kevin and Greymatter were searching for the 11-year-old Gwen.

"She's got to be somewhere around here," the Galvan muttered, as Kevin opened a door and he rushed over to the closet.

"Why do you think she's even in the house?" the osmosian asked, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of life.

"Because," the alien grunted with the effort it took to attempt to pull open the closet door, "Sintyana was only…5.78 hours away from…death's door. She would have had…no way of getting out of here…or summoning back up…without one of us…noticing. So, therefore…she must have…hidden her…somewhere in the house. Oof!" He fell on his back like a small bug and rolled over onto his hands and knees to find the other boy looking at him with a partly amused and partly pitying expression on his face. "Um, hehe, a little help here?" the small creature asked.

The 12-year-old rolled his eyes and walked over to the door. He jerked it open without even trying and turned to smirk at the alien in triumph.

"From now on, I'll handle the doors, you check under the beds, 'kay?" he suggested.

"Hmm, she's not here," Greymatter surveyed, completely ignoring his friend, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking." He turned on his heel and headed over to the door.

"Whatever you say, Big Guy," the raven-haired boy muttered and exited the room to go to the one next door.

"Humph, Big Guy?" he huffed, obviously offended, "You need to get more original, Kevin."

"Yeah, yeah, whatev," the obsidian-eyed boy said and pushed open the door. He immediately went over to the closet door and pulled it open while the other alien checked under the bed.

"Huh," said Kevin sitting back on his heels once he saw the closet was empty.

"What?" the Galvan asked, his head appearing out from under the bed, "You found her?"

"No," the osmosian said, shaking his head, "I just thought of something."

"Well, give the guy a medal!" his companion exclaimed, scampering out from under the bed, "He thought of something!"

"Shut it," the raven-haired boy snapped, glaring at him.

"Fine, fine," the alien said, waving the words away, "What is it?"

"Do you think, maybe, they knew she wasn't gonna be here?" he asked, frowning, "It seems pretty ridiculous, going out to search the woods when there's still a possibility she's here."

"True," Greymatter admitted, "And maybe you're right. But then why would they go out in the woods?"

"I don't know," the osmosian said, shaking his head, "You're the genius here. Speaking of which, did you find her?"

"Nothing," the alien huffed, "What next?"

"Well, I guess we keep looking," Kevin said with a shrug, "Like you said, she's got to be somewhere."

"You are so selfish," Greymatter snapped, hopping onto the bed so that he could be somewhat level with the 12-year-old and jabbing an accusing finger at him, "Gwen goes out of her way to save your life and risks her own, uses up most of her energy to get us from one place to another, and when she's missing, all you can say is 'well, I guess we keep looking. She's gotta be here somewhere'!"

"Okay, first of all, I don't sound like that, and second, you have no idea what I'm thinking, or what I feel about her," the osmosian snapped, his obsidian eyes blazing with anger.

"What you feel about her?" the alien repeated, frowning at the boy.

"Yeah," he said, calming down and plopping down on the bed next to the alien, "It makes no sense. I'm a criminal that's _supposed _to be trapped in the Null Void, and she's a preppy bookworm, who…"

The Galvan tuned out the rest of the boy's sentence as he focused on the first to last word. Or rather, the first part of that word. Book…library…Gwen!

"That's it!" he cried, jumping to his feet, "Whoa, whoa!" he cried as he slid off the bed, trying to get hold of some part of the blanket. Kevin caught him in one hand and lifted him so that they were eye-level.

"What's it?" he asked suspiciously, his dark eyes narrowed.

"The library!" Greymatter cried, "Sintyana was downstairs the entire time! She wouldn't have had the time, or the energy to carry Gwen all the way upstairs and then come downstairs herself! Let's go!"

He hopped down from the boy's hand, landing on the floor with a small thump, and ran out through the small crack in the door.

Kevin sighed and stood up as well.

"Why do I even bother?" he muttered and ran after the Galvan.

Once outside, they found Cooper wandering from room to room, much the same way they had, only he didn't really seem to be paying attention to what was inside.

"Hey, you okay, Coop?" Greymatter asked. Cooper jumped when he heard the voice and looked over to Kevin, the only person in sight.

"I'm fine, Kevin," he promised, "But, what happened to your voice?"

"It wasn't me, dipstick," the osmosian snapped and pointed down to the teen's feet where Greymatter stood. He gave the blonde boy a small smile and waved.

"Oh, sorry, Ben," he said and lifted him up, "What are you two doing?"

"We're gonna go check for Gwen downstairs," Kevin said and turned to the steps, trying to get to the library as fast as possible. That was strange. Normally, he would've been trying to get away from the library as fast as possible.

"Can you just put me on the banister?" Greymatter asked the blue-eyed teen, "You should stay up here, just in case I'm wrong."

"Of course," he said with a smile and put the Galvan there.

"Wahoo!" he cried as he slid down, did a salto in the air, and thudded to the floor at the 12-year-old's feet on the ground floor. The osmosian picked him up with two fingers and smirked.

"See?" he chided, "That's why your mom told you never to slide down the banister!"

The alien just glared at him.

Downstairs, Eunice had cleared the whole building of rakari, except for Sintyana, of course, and had turned the fallen couch back so that she wouldn't have to sit next to the alien. She was stroking a ruined pillow and looked miserable. Sintyana was smiling devilishly, as if though the blonde's misery was her fault, and she was benefiting from it. When the two boys appeared downstairs and they started heading for the library, well, Kevin walked while carrying Greymatter, she looked up and her dark eyes widened.

"Where are you two going?" she snapped.

"Why should that matter to you?" Greymatter asked, frowning at the girl, "Maybe because you put Gwen there?" Kevin rolled his eyes and tossed the creature across the room.

"Hey!" he cried, but it was too late. The 12-year-old had already slammed the library's door. Sintyana looked defeated.

Inside, it was dark, but the young osmosian could see there were no damage. The shelves were still intact, and the books were where they should've been. This was the one area of the house that the aliens had left alone.

He flipped on the light switch. His all-seeing eyes swept the room, and saw nothing. The boy felt his spirits dampen at the thought that the girl might not be here after all. Maybe Greymatter had been wrong, and Sintyana really might have had time to get Gwen somewhere else. He thought of her, being stranded somewhere alone in the middle of the woods, probably worse than Sintyana herself. His hands tightened into fists and his teeth clenched. The boy felt something that was very familiar to him: anger. But, for once, it wasn't because someone had hurt him. It was because someone had hurt someone else, someone he cared about. Caring about others, that was a new one.

Suddenly he heard a soft moan from right next to him. The boy turned his head in alarm, expecting to find another rakarus, but instead he saw the 11-year-old Gwen, slumped against the wall. She wasn't badly hurt, just a few cuts and scrapes, and a bump on her head. Apparently, Sintyana had knocked her unconscious and then left her there. Now, she was waking up.

"Ugh," she groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Before either of them could understand what was going on, Kevin had his arms wrapped tightly around her, enveloping her in a warm hug.

"Kevin?" she asked in surprise, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yeah," he said, and found, to his horror, that he was choking back tears. He blinked them away and moved so that she was still in his arms, only not crushed to his chest.

"What was that for?" she asked, not moving her arms from where they were around his neck.

"I'm just glad to see you," Kevin admitted, smiling at her.

"Oh," she said, a smile on her face as well, "What happened?"

The osmosian smirked.

"Come on," he said, helping her up and not bothering to answer the question, "Let's get out of here. I'll fill you in later."

The red head rolled her eyes and opened the door to the library. When she tried to step ot of the room, though, something like an invisible force field knocked her back.

Kevin cursed under his breath.

"You've got to be kidding," he hissed.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know this chapter is a little OOC, especially the ending. I'm sorry, but I hope you guys liked it just the same! R&R!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for all the amazing reviews, suggestions, and everything else! Love you all, and thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I'm sorry, but I had to baby-sit my cousins, or else this chapter would have been up sooner. Virtual cookies for everyone! Special thanks to Masen Lakain, for inspiring me, Rose Aerin for being such a good friend and putting up with my freaking out on her, and Anonymous and BEN 10 FAN for the idea. =)

* * *

_Previously:_

When Gwen tried to get out of the library, she was knocked back as if though by some invisible force field.

Kevin cursed under his breath.

"You've got to be kidding."

* * *

"What the heck was that?" the younger Gwen asked as Kevin kneeled over her and helped her up again.

"A force field," he explained, "That alien freak must have put it up so you can't get out."

"So, how do we get out?" the redhead asked, crossing her arms on her chest. The boy opened his mouth to respond, but then took in the girl's disheveled appearance. Her shirt was wrinkled, the skirt was torn, and her hair was a mess. His mouth curled up into an amused smirk.

"What's so funny?" she asked curiously, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Nothing," he stated, shaking his head, the only trace of amusement left on his face a faint glimmer in his eyes. After a moment he added quickly, "There are no mirrors around here, are there?"

The red head rolled her eyes.

"Stop talking and start thinking," she told him sternly, "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"Call your cousin?" the obsidian-eyed boy suggested.

"Which one?" she asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

He shuddered.

"As if one of them wasn't enough," he muttered, before turning back to the door.

"Yo, Tennyson!" he shouted and suddenly the 11-year-old appeared in front of them, back to his human self.

"Oh, good, you found her," Ben said, looking over his old enemy's shoulder at the red haired girl, about to step into the library.

"Don't!" the other two yelled, shaking their hands in front of them wildly.

"Whoa, whoa!" the brunette boy yelled, and toppled over the threshold, crashing on the floor in front of the other two kids. They both glared down at him.

"You are such a doofus," his cousin stated.

"Hey, I'm not the one who fought an alien and got locked up in a library!" the boy snapped back at her as he stood up, "By the way, why are we still here? This is the second worst place on Earth!"

"What's the first?" Kevin asked.

"School," the young anodite said, rolling her eyes at the raven-haired boy.

"Huh," the osmosian said, looking off into the distance, "Haven't heard that one for a long time."

"Lucky," the young hero muttered scornfully, but loud enough for his companions to hear.

"Ben!" Gwen cried, "He's spent the past year in the Null Void! You call that luck?"

"Whatever," the boy said with a shrug, "So, why are we still here?"

"Because-" the red head was cut off by the 12-year-old.

"You have a point," he said, a devilish glint in his obsidian eyes, "Why don't you go first, since out of all of us, you seem to hate the place the most."

"Well, duh," the bearer of the Omnitrix said, turned around, stepped forward, and was immediately blasted back by the force field. His back hit the side of a bookshelf, and he saw stars as he sank back down to the floor. Amazingly, the shelf only rattled, not budging an inch. When his vision had cleared, the boy saw his cousin leaning over him.

"That's why we haven't left yet, freakazoid," she declared, hands on her hips.

"You're one to talk," he scoffed, leaning back on his elbows, "Looked in a mirror lately?"

The girl blinked at him in confusion.

* * *

Back in the living room, Eunice was still glaring at the coffee table. The lights were out, so they'd had to make do with a fire in the fireplace. It was just as well. The night was remarkably cold. She heard Cooper's quiet footsteps as he walked down the steps and stopped by the two girls.

"Hello, doc," Sintyana greeted him, a bright smile on her face, "Bit cold tonight, isn't it? Or is that just your girlfriend?"

"Shut up," the blonde boy growled at her.

"Why?" the rakarus shot back, "Your osmosian friend's gonna kill me anyway when he gets back from his hike, so you don't have anything to worry about. I'll be gone before morning."

At this point the boy turned his attention to the other blonde, now ignoring the alien completely. Eunice had changed out of the clothes she'd worn into a black sweatshirt and dark blue jeans.

"Eunice?" he said carefully.

No answer.

"Eunice, what's up?" he continued, sitting down beside the girl. She moved away from him slightly.

"What did I do?" he tried.

No response.

"Well, whatever it is, I am so sorry," the tech controlling teen said in a voice perilously close to begging.

A few more seconds of silence passed. Finally Cooper sighed, giving up, and starting to stand.

"You didn't do anything," Eunice's voice was barely above a whisper, but he still heard it.

"Then why are you mad at me?" the blue-eyed boy persisted, sitting back down, his eyes locked on her profile.

"Because…" she trailed off, at a loss for words. How exactly was she supposed to tell him that his crush on a girl who he had never had a chance with anyway bothered her beyond any reasonable boundaries? With a pang of jealousy, Eunice realized that he really did have a chance with her. If it wasn't for Kevin, the two of them probably would be together by now. She gave a silent thanks to the osmosian for being so possessive when it came to the red haired anodite. Finally she took a deep breath and turned to the teen, her green eyes brimming with tears.

"I already told you earlier," she said quietly, her voice almost breaking.

"You mean, how you yelled at me for caring about my friend?" he asked slowly. She could detect a faint trace of amusement in his eyes, and it angered her.

"Yes," she snapped, crossing her arms and legs defensively and turning away from the young boy defensively, "Now stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing at you," he promised, putting a hand on her knee comfortingly, "But, there's nothing going on with me and Gwen. Of course I'm worried about her. There's a whole planet of aliens intent on killing her. I'm surprised you're not more worried."

"It's more than that," the blonde insisted, "You don't just care about her as a friend. You-"

She was instantly silenced as his lips crashed down on hers. For a moment, Eunice was so shocked that she forgot to respond. Then slowly, she closed her eyes and wrapped her slender arms around his neck and kissed him back as furiously as a girl who'd had no experience whatsoever and had only woken up a few weeks ago, could. She saw fireworks and felt sparks. The kiss was so perfect she forgot everything: how to breathe, where they were, who was with them, and even her own name. Time seemed to stand still as the two teens were lost in this chasm of pure bliss.

Finally, they broke apart, panting for air.

"So, do you think I'd do _that_ if I liked another girl?" Cooper asked once he got his breath back.

Eunice smiled shyly.

"No," she admitted, shaking her head, "I don't." With that she curled up into his arms happily, tucking her head into his chest, hiding a smile.

"Gwen doesn't know what she's missing," she breathed after a few seconds of silence, and felt Cooper's chest rumble underneath her as he laughed.

"Ugh," Sintyana groaned, bringing the two blonde teens back to the reality that was the ruined living room, "Stop it with all the lovey-dovey stuff. It's making me sick."

"And we care because…?" Cooper asked, throwing a smirk at the cringing alien and making Eunice laugh.

* * *

Outside, Gwen and Kevin came back out of the woods to the clearing. Kevin had his arm around Gwen, while the red head was shivering, clinging to him tightly. The night was a lot colder than the last few had been, and she had absolutely no idea how she was gonna fall asleep with the wind blowing in from the smashed windows. Oh, right. She slept next to an osmosian whose arms were as good as any blanket. A smile spread across the anodite's face at the thought.

Kevin came to a sudden stop in front of the house.

"Kevin?" the green-eyed girl said gently, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh.

"We'll fix this place when the aliens leave," she promised, wrapping her arms around him tighter and tucking her head into his chest.

"What's the point?" he asked, pulling back to frown at her, "No one comes here anymore. It'd just be a waste of time."

"The point is that it means something to you," Gwen stated, looking up into his obsidian eyes, "It reminds you of your father, and that's important."

The raven-haired teen turned away from his girlfriend's determined gaze, hiding his face. He didn't like feeling weak, vulnerable, and that's how Gwen could make him feel sometimes. Like a little boy, lost in the woods, with her being the only one who could help him. This was how he felt when thinking about his father, and he really did want to rebuild this place, but not if it took time away from his kicking alien butt.

The 16-year-old sighed and lifted a hand up to his cheek and turned his head back around to face her.

"We'll come here," she stated, a smile on her face. She had found out long ago that when it came to Kevin, it was better to wait until he wanted to talk about his feelings, rather than try to push him to do it. So, instead of approaching the subject directly, she gave him another reason to do something she knew he wanted to, even if he wouldn't admit it. Not even to himself.

"You want to come to an abandoned cabin big enough to be a hotel, in the middle of the woods with an ex-con?" the 17-year-old asked her incredulously, a wide smile on his face. The thought of being in one of his favorite places in the world with his favorite person in the universe was very tempting indeed.

"Sure," his girlfriend said with a compliant shrug, "As long as we don't have to fight any aliens while we're here."

He laughed.

Suddenly, they heard the rustling of branches, accompanied by two pairs of footsteps. A few seconds later, Ben and Julie emerged from the forest, holding hands, followed by Ship. Both teens were smiling shyly at the ground, and Ben's jacket was around the raven-haired girl's shoulders.

"So, you kids have fun?" Kevin teased, smiling evilly at his best friend.

"Dude, seriously," Ben said, frowning at the older boy as he came to stand next to him. Kevin let go of Gwen and stepped back, going to talk to his obnoxious friend instead. "Cool it with the reruns."

"Um, Gwen?" Julie said quietly, hurrying over to her friend, an excited grin on her face.

"What is it, Julie?" the red head asked, smiling at the girl. She leaned forward and whispered something to the anodite. Gwen's eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock.

"He did?" she asked once Julie had stepped back to look at her shocked expression.

"Yep," the tennis player confirmed, nodding furiously.

"Wow," the 16-year-old breathed, coming back to her senses, "Kevin told me the same thing about three days ago."

"You're kidding," the Japanese-American said, her own eyes widening in shock.

"No, I'm not," the other girl said, shaking her head, a bright smile on her own face.

"What are they talking about?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix whispered behind his hand to the obsidian-eyed teen. Kevin rolled his eyes in response.

"So clueless," he muttered under his breath.

There were muffled footsteps from nearby again, this time from a completely different direction than the one the couple that had just come from. The strange thing was that this time, there was only one set. It was Ken.

"Ken?" his sister said, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," he confirmed, brushing some dirt off his shoulder, "Your little friend pushed me down on the ground and then flew back here."

"Charmcaster?" the college student's cousin asked, frowning at him.

"Where is she?" the 17-year-old demanded, tightening his hold on his beloved girlfriend as he assessed their surroundings, as if though expecting another army of rakari to jump out at them any second.

"Up there," the red-haired boy said, pointing up at a particularly tall pine tree. All heads turned to the tree to see the silver-haired witch perched precariously on one of the highest branches, one knee up, her other leg dangling off the side of the branch. Both hands were folded on her knee as she smirked down at them.

"Hello," she called down.

"So, I'm guessing you heard every word of that?" Julie asked, blushing slightly as she kept her gaze firmly planted on the ground.

"Yep," Charmcaster said, standing up and floating gracefully down to the ground, "And so that your boyfriend over there doesn't look like such an idiot, I'll explain what you and my fellow sorceress Gwen were whispering about." She turned her violet eyes on the red head, as if though asking permission.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, waving her hand carelessly.

"Julie told your cousin that you told her that you loved her," the witch announced, smiling proudly.

"Oh," said Ken, "So that's what Gwen meant when she said Kevin told her the same thing three days ago."

"And why are you so…unsurprised by that, Ken?" his little sister asked suspiciously, her green eyes narrowed.

"Um," her brother's eyes widened as he realized the mistake he had just made and he took an involuntary step back from the wrath of the girl that was Gwen Tennyson.

"Wait, I'm confused," said Ben, not even noticing that no one was paying the slightest bit of attention to him, "Kevin told Gwen he loved her?"

"You were spying on us," she said. It was a statement, not a question. The young girl's eyes were filled with rage. She hadn't even noticed her ego-centric cousin had spoken.

"Yeah, now shut up," Kevin growled at his friend and they both turned back to the two red-haired siblings.

Ken opened his mouth to stutter some more, but then got his bearings back. So what if she was a super-powered anodite that could kill him without even trying? Gwen was still his little sister, and he had every right to be the overprotective older brother. She was, after all, dating a guy that used to be a psycho killer. If that didn't give him the right, what did?

"Okay, I was spying on you," he finally admitted, hands clenched into fists, brows furrowed as he started to get mad as well, "But in my defense, he tried to kill you once, Gwen. Excuse me for being a little overprotective."

"I can take care of myself, Ken," the green-eyed girl said in a voice as cold as ice, her arms crossed on her chest angrily.

"Yeah, you can," Kevin agreed, stepping forward so that he was shielding the girl from her brother, and looking him straight in the eye, "But that's not the issue here, is it?"

"What?" Ken asked, frowning at the teen.

"Look, I completely get that you're worried about Gwen," the osmosian said, lifting his hands up as if though in surrender, "But you gotta know that I love her and would never let anything happen to her. She…she means everything to me."

The older boy relaxed as he searched the boy's face for any signs of a lie. There were none. He thought back to the only time he had seen Kevin fighting aliens with Gwen and Ben. He had no doubt that the 17-year-old cared about his sister, but he also remembered that Kevin had cheated on her with the witch standing not three feet away from them at this very moment. Regardless of that, the college student found that he believed him. After all, he didn't know the whole story. She could have put a spell on him. Charmcaster did, after all, seem like the kind of girl who wasn't above doing things like that to get a guy.

"I believe you," he finally said and smiled wryly, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," the raven-haired teen said, shaking his head.

"Okay, so if we're done with the guy bonding, did any of you find Gwen?" Charmcaster asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"No," Julie stated, shaking her head in confusion, "We assumed one of you guys found her."

"Same with us," Kevin told them.

"And, of course, you two were too busy spying to look for her," the 16-year-old red head said, glaring at her brother as she took a step forward and stood next to her boyfriend.

"Well, maybe Kai and Winston or Eunice and Cooper found her," Ben said awkwardly, trying to avoid yet another fight between his beloved cousin and someone close to them.

"Or the younger kids," Ken added.

"Fat chance," the osmosian scoffed.

"For once I agree with Levin," Charmcaster stated, "Those two couldn't find her if she was in the same room as them."

"Hey," the older versions of the two boys snapped at her.

"No offence," she added, a smile on her face.

"So, then let's get back to the house," said Julie, shivering in the jacket, "It's freezing out here."

"Shouldn't we wait for Kai and Winston?" Ben asked, peering out into the woods. It was already dark. Stars were shining brightly against the night's sky, twinkling like a million tiny lights.

"If they find their way back, we'll be waiting for them in the house," Gwen told him, "Julie's right. Let's go."

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the woods, Kai and Winston were stuck wandering through the trees, with no path whatsoever to guide them.

"We're lost," Kai said, trembling both from the chill of the night and her earlier fear of Eunice.

"No, we're not," Winston insisted, climbing over a fallen tree and holding a hand out to her. She took it and allowed him to help her over the log.

"Always the gentleman," the Native American mumbled, rolling her eyes as she hopped down.

"Knights are nothing if not well mannered," the squire told her.

"Aren't you a squire?" she asked, following him as he led her further through the trees.

"Yes," he confirmed, ducking under a branch.

"And isn't a squire like a - Ow!" the girl cut herself off as she rammed into the branch her companion had just ducked under and fell to the forest floor.

"Kai!" the boy cried, running back over to the dark-haired girl and leaning over her body, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she stated, pulling herself up on her elbows and looking up.

"I'm so sorry!" he fussed, pressing a hand to her forehead, "I should have warned you."

"It's okay," the brown-eyed teen promised as she looked not at the boy, but up at the sky. "Give me a boost."

"What?" the teen asked, completely confused as she took his hand and he helped her up once again.

"I think I can climb this tree," Kai said, looking up at the branches. It was a sturdy pine, with branches tough enough to support Eunice's pet bear, let alone the slim, light brunette.

"Why do you want to climb a tree in the middle of the night?" Winston asked, more confused than ever.

"Maybe I can spot the house or at least the path from the top," she said, already reaching for the branch, "Now, give me a boost."

"If you say so," the boy muttered and put his hands together. The dark-haired girl stepped on and grabbed the branch, quickly swinging her other leg over. She stood up cautiously, and then, almost like a squirrel, started clambering up the tree. The bark skimmed her hands, but she didn't even notice. The only thing on her mind was Ben, and how much she wanted to get back to him and to show that damn Julie that he was hers. The thought brought a smile to the girl's face and she hurried up.

In no time at all, she reached the top branch. Or, well, as far as she could go without stepping onto smaller branches that would surely break under her feet and make her topple down to her death. She stood up slowly and carefully, and stared out at the horizon. The smile she had been wearing immediately fell. This tree might have been good for climbing, but it was only as tall as the other trees, and, since the girl was still a ways away from the top, she couldn't see through the thicket of branches that seemed to go on forever. With a huff of disappointment, she turned to look up at the stars, as if though hoping they would give her some sign of where she might be, and which way was home.

Kai took a small step back, trying to see more clearly. Wrong move. She scrambled to keep her footing, but her efforts were fruitless, and she fell down with a loud scream.

"AAAHHH!" she yelled, and, just when she was sure she'd hit the ground, a pair of arms caught her, and immediately gave out. Winston had broken her fall, and she was now lying on top of him.

"What…happened?" the boy wheezed. The impact had been much too strong for him.

"I…fell," Kai panted, out of breath and with her throat slightly sore from all the screaming. She was draped across him like a heavy blanket, pinning him underneath her.

"I saw that," the squire said, and hauled her off him, making her land on her hands and knees. He sat up and frowned at the girl, "What happened?"

"I was looking up at the stars, and then all of a sudden, I was falling," she said, looking around as if though bewildered. Winston looked back at her as if though she was crazy.

"You're probably the most insane person I've ever met," he stated, "And I live with a bunch of old guys dressed in Halloween costumes who hunt aliens for a living."

Kai laughed.

"Kevin?" she asked, wondering if the young squire was so bold as to quote the young osmosian.

"Yes," he said sheepishly, not looking at her and hiding a smile.

"That explains a lot," she said and curled up into a ball on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. In the starlight that filtered through the branches, Winston could just barely make out her smile.

"You know, we're probably not gonna make it back tonight," she said quietly after a moment's silence.

"I know," he agreed, tugging his knees to his chest as well and looking sadly down at the blackness that was the ground.

"On the bright side, though, we don't have to go back to Eunice the Torturer," she muttered and then lifted her head in alarm. "Please don't tell her I said that."

The brunette boy laughed.

"I can't believe you're frightened of Eunice," he said, shaking his head in amusement and leaning back against a nearby tree, stretching out. Unlike Kai, he was accustomed to these conditions. "She wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Well, someone had to push that rakarus in the river!" the Native American insisted, glaring at him. He merely rolled his eyes in response. This infuriated the girl. She was dead serious, after all. Her glare deepened and she moved over to make a space for herself in his arms, leaning against one, and draping the other over herself like a blanket.

"What are you doing?" Winston asked, frowning at her in confusion for the umpteenth time that night.

"I'm freezing," she said, as if though that in itself was a good enough explanation.

The squire smirked, but didn't move away. _Definitely_ the most insane person he'd ever met.

* * *

Back at the house, everyone entered through the front door, as if though the windows weren't completely destroyed and everything was just as it should be.

"Sorry about the house, man," Ben said to Kevin as he looked around at the damage.

"Next time, try to take the fight outside," the dark teen said through gritted teeth.

"Well, well," said Charmcaster, smiling over at the two blonde teens cuddled up to each other on the couch, "Guess somebody came to his senses."

"Ha, ah," Cooper drawled sarcastically.

"Please tell me you asked her out," Gwen practically begged the blonde boy.

"Well, not exactly," he said shyly, blushing.

"Hey, doc," Sintyana snapped at him, "You made out with the girl of your dreams in an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere. You're going out."

"They made out?" Julie asked, smiling at her blonde friend. She smiled back, practically glowing with happiness.

"Yep," the rakarus said, the pained look on her face replaced with an amused smirk, "In fact, Blondie here said, and I quote, 'Gwen doesn't know what she's missing'."

Everyone froze and all eyes in the room turned to the young anodite. Her face was a mixture of horror and surprise.

"Gwen, I didn't-" Eunice started, sitting up, her moss-green eyes wide with fear.

"We'll talk about this later," the red head said in a broken voice. The blonde opened her mouth to say something else, and then closed it. She nodded once, and hid her face in her hands, completely and utterly humiliated.

"She's right," Ben said, turning his attention to the beaming rakarus on the couch across from his friends, "You need to tell us where the 11-year-old Gwen is, or else."

"Or else what?" Sintyana smirked. Her eyes were challenging, just daring the boy to give her his best shot.

"This," he said and held up his left wrist, showing her the Omnitrix.

"You're Ben Tennyson," she said, her smirk disappearing into a look of slight confusion. It vanished before it had fully registered, though, and the smirk was back.

"Um, I'm getting a little cold," said Julie suddenly. She hated fights, and wanted to clear the air between Eunice and Gwen, so that the two girls wouldn't end up hating each other. "I'll go upstairs and get changed. Gwen, Eunice, why don't you two come with me?"

"Okay," Eunice whispered and got up. Cooper grasped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him slightly and turned back to go upstairs.

"Fine," said Gwen, her lips pursed as she went after the two girls. Suddenly, she turned back to look at her brother and Charmcaster and said, "Could you two please go look for Kai and Winston? They've been gone for a while. I'm getting worried."

"Of course," said Ken, and turned to leave the house.

"I'll track them," Charmcatser added and then smiled at her old enemy, "You know, if you want to put a spell on that blonde, I can help you with that."

The red haired girl smiled at her friend.

"If I decide I do, you'll be the first one I call," she assured her, and then turned to head back upstairs.

Halfway up the stairs, Eunice gave a soft groan that sounded like a dying animal.

The sorceress turned back to the door the anodite's brother was holding open for her, and started to head out of the house.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" the college student whispered to her.

"I might," the girl said, "Afraid I'll charm you?"

"Hilarious," he stated and shut the door behind him.

"You know," Sintyana said conversationally, bringing all three boys' attention back to her. She was still speaking to Ben, though. "I have a friend who wants you dead."

The hero scoffed, Cooper chuckled, and the side of Kevin's mouth quirked up in a half-smile.

"I think you have a lot of friends who want you dead," the brunette teen said, rolling his eyes.

"My people?" she asked, her eyes widening as if though in surprise, "We only want your cousin dead, not you. You've done too much good for the universe."

"Then who's your friend?" Cooper asked, leaning forward, a frown on his face.

A wide smile spread across the creature's face.

"Kevin Levin," she said slowly.

There was silence, before both Ben and Cooper burst out into laughter.

"Where have you been for the past year?" the green-eyed boy laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Sintyana pouted, her words obviously not having the desired effect.

"Hang on a sec," said Kevin. There was a determined look on his face as he stepped further into the room and knelt down in front of her. "How did you know him?"

"What's it to you?" she scoffed, waving one of her large hands in the air dismissively, "Are you hunting him down?"

The raven-haired teen smirked.

"No," he promised, "How'd you know him?"

The rakarus glared at him for a few moments more, and then sighed. Maybe if she told him what he wanted to know, he'd go easy on her. She'd heard stories about Ben Tennyson and his friends. The osmosian certainly was the most reckless one, and who knew what he would do to her for hurting his beloved girlfriend? After all, how bad could the consequences be for hanging out with a super evil genius of a kid several years ago?

"He helped me break out of jail four years ago in exchange for some alien tech," she said, staring the 17-year-old directly in the eye, "He had just gotten out of the Null Void, and saw me, disguised as an Earth girl, getting dragged off to Juvy, or what do you people call it? He got in there himself, and busted us both out. At first he thought I was just a pretty face, but then…well, once he saw my real face, that kinda took the toll on our friendship. A couple days later, he found me hiding in an alley. Well, I accidentally attacked him. So, from that moment on, he learned everything he could about the Plumbers from me, and alien tech, too. I even got him some. When the ship came for me, to take me back to my own world, he stuck with our pal, um, what was his name? We found him running from some gang he owed money to. Kevin took care of that, though. "

"Argit," the osmosian interrupted her story. His head was lowered as he relived the memories

"That's right, Argit," she said, "Those two were best friends, even though Argit never did anything other than get into trouble and screw Kevin over on deals. It was kinda sad that he didn't come back with me to my planet. He really could have been something there. Now, who knows what happened to him?"

"I do," the dark teen said quietly, lifting his head and narrowing his eyes at her, "He's a Plumber now, dating a smoking hot red head, and he's sitting right here."

The rakarus's mouth popped open.

"Kevin?" she breathed, eyes wide in surprise.

"Hi there, Sin," he said, smirking at her, "Now, tell me where the kid version of my girlfriend is, or you'll see what really happens when you mess with me."

* * *

In the library, the kids were bored. Or, rather, the boys were bored. Gwen was in paradise. Kevin's library had every book she had ever wanted to read, and some that she had never heard of before, but that still were very interesting. At the moment, she was sitting at a desk by the door, the desk lamp turned on, and poring over a book called Twilight.

Ben was sitting slumped by the wall, glaring at a fallen bookmark as if though it was responsible for everything that had happened to him and his companions. Kevin was somewhere at the other end of the library, doing something that neither cousin knew, or cared about.

"How can you just sit there?" the brunette boy asked. It was a testament to how bored he was that he was actually trying to strike up a conversation with the red head, "Don't you ever get tired of reading?"

"No," the girl said, shaking her head slightly before turning back to her book.

"Karate I can understand, but reading?" the 11-year-old continued, "That's like studying for the fun of it." He shuddered at the mere thought. "Oh, wait," he smirked, "You do that, too."

"Is there something you want, moron?" the girl snapped, looking up from her book to glare at him.

"Yeah," he stated, "For you to get a brush and a mirror." He snickered again.

"Shut up, freakazoid," she hissed and turned back to her book, "I know you're bored, but quit taking it out on me. Go find Kevin and see what he's doing."

"Probably something illegal, like vandalizing this place…" the green-eyed boy mused.

"It's his own house," the girl snapped, now completely forgetting the book, "He can do what he wants."

"…or he could be burning books…"

Twilight was immediately snapped shut as the red head ran for the other end of the library. The bearer of the Omnitrix was left laughing at her.

"And she says I'm a moron," he smirked.

"KEVIN!" she yelled, "Get away from those books!" She rounded a corner and-

-ran right into the 12-year-old.

"You okay?" he asked, gripping her arms and steadying her.

"Yeah," she said, practically going limp in his grasp.

"Why were you yelling?" the obsidian-eyed teen asked her, a faint trace of amusement on his face.

"," she said under her breath, eyes cast to the ground.

"You thought I might be burning books?" the young osmosian asked incredulously.

"Yeah," she said again, lifting her face up in confusion. How on earth had he heard that?

"Gwen," he said softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "I wouldn't do that."

"Really?" she asked, a small, hopeful smile on her face.

The boy's sincere smile turned into a wry one. While he loved putting that soft, trusting look on the girl's face, especially if it was meant for him, he also loved to joke, and, being Kevin Levin, he just had to go with the second option.

"Well, not around you," he smirked.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Right," she said and stepped out of the boy's hold, even though she would have loved to remain there for the duration of her time here in the library, "So, what were you really doing here?"

"Working on a way to get out of here," he said with an insignificant shrug as they started walking through the bookshelves to the far side of the library.

"What?" the girl cried as she hurried to keep up with Kevin's long stride, "Why didn't you call for me or Ben to help?"

"I don't do help," he said, rolling his eyes.

Gwen gave him a look.

"Fine," he huffed, defeated, "You were having so much fun with the books, I just didn't want to bother you."

"Oh," she said, turning away from him and hiding a smile, "Okay, then, and what about Ben?"

"It's just too much fun, watching the twerp slowly die of boredom," the 12-year-old laughed. Catching the red head's disapproving eye, his eyes widened. "What?"

"That twerp is my cousin," she said as they rounded another corner.

"So?" he asked, frowning at her, "I thought you guys didn't get along."

"We don't but…" she took a deep breath. How on Earth was she supposed to explain to Kevin, the boy who had abandoned his family at age 10, the relationship between two relatives, who shared the same birthday, could never agree on anything, and the only time they ever actually enjoyed doing something together was when they were fighting aliens? It was like trying to teach a dog how to talk.

"But what?" he prompted, his obsidian eyes wide with wonder. No, not wonder. Pure, child-like curiosity. It was something that the 11-year-old hadn't ever seen on him, and it surprised her. Kevin was always on his guard when it came to his emotions.

_Except when he's with you_, a small voice in the back of her head whispered. It was true, too. He was more free when he was around her. Like he trusted her, or maybe even cared about her. Ah, who was she kidding? Of course he cared about her!

"Hello! Earth to Gwen!" the young osmosian's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Oh, sorry," she said, coming back to the present, "What was I saying?"

"You said that you guys don't get along, but…" he made circle motions with his hands, prompting her to continue.

"But, we're family," she finally said, giving him a small smile, "And you don't turn your back on your family. In fact that's probably the reason you go back to stay with your mom in the future."

"I don't think so," he said, shaking his head, "I hate her."

"No, you don't," she said gently, and was suddenly reminded of the older version of herself.

"She threw me out on the street, got married again after Dad died…Really, do you not see where I'm coming from?"

Gwen opened her mouth to argue, but decided it would be better to stay quiet. If he wanted to talk, he would talk to her.

"Okay," she whispered quietly, "But I still think that's why you go home."

"Think what you want," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, what do you think, then?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I think I was brainwashed," he announced. The young anodite rolled her eyes.

"We're here," he announced after a second of silence. They had stopped right at the far wall of the library, which was also the far wall of the house, and were standing right in front of the air-vent. The young green-eyed girl froze. She abruptly understood what the boy had in mind.

"No way," she stated, shaking her head.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Again, I'm so sorry it took me so long. Please R&R!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Hey, guys! I am so sorry for the long time it took me to update! Good news is I think I'm through moving for a few weeks, and will hopefully have more time to write.

Thank you for all your brilliant reviews and ideas! Special thanks goes to my good friends Just Another Fan For Life for giving me such awesome ideas and helping me out when I needed it, Marin Barnard, for unknowingly giving me an idea in one of her hilarious emails (I'm pretty sure you'll recognize that part ;)) and being so awesome in general, and Dark Shining Light, for being so understanding and nice. Love you guys!

* * *

"No way," the younger Gwen breathed and took a step back from the air-vent.

"Have you got a better idea?" the 12-year-old snapped at her.

"Yes," she stated, turning to glare at him, "We wait until someone finds us and figures out a way to get us out of here."

"Not gonna happen," the younger Kevin said, shaking his head.

"And why not?" the red head demanded, crossing her arms on her chest angrily.

"See that thin net-like thing stretched out along the ceiling?" he asked, pointing up above their heads.

"No," the girl answered, looking up and not seeing anything. The ceiling was wooden, and so dark that there was no way to see anything. Why did this place have no windows? It was, after all, a library. They should have been there to provide extra light.

"Yeah," the osmosian agreed, "Neither did I. That is, until I climbed up that ladder-" his hand moved to indicate a large, metallic ladder just tall enough for him to reach the air-vent – "and started working on the vent. Then I noticed it."

"Okay, so there's a net stretched out along the ceiling," the young anodite said, as if though that in itself wasn't strange at all, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It filters out sound so that we can't be heard," the boy explained, "My guess is, it's built into the walls to soundproof those, too."

The green-eyed girl raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. A small smile appeared on the boy's mouth, giving a clear indication that he wasn't about to answer her wordless question: How did he know that?

"Then how did Ben hear you when you called for him?" the brunette hero's cousin asked, frowning at the raven-haired boy.

"He didn't," the obsidian-eyed 12-year-old said with a shrug.

"He must have," the girl argued, shaking her head in denial, "It can't just be a coincidence. Ben doesn't go to libraries to read."

"Yeah, but he does go to libraries to find out if a guy who he locked up in jail a year ago has found his cousin," Kevin told her.

"At the exact moment that you called for him?" the 11-year-old asked incredulously.

Kevin held up his hands in surrender and took a step back from the girl.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I know," he said, a slightly amused smile on his face, "If you want to test it out, be my guest."

"With pleasure," the girl stated and turned sharply on her heel, heading back to where her cousin was dying of boredom.

Kevin rolled his obsidian eyes. He liked Gwen, but she was so stubborn! And what was the big deal about crawling through an air-vent. Right, she was a girl and probably didn't want to get her clothes dirty. Well, dirtier than they already were. He smirked, grateful, for probably the fiftieth time that night, that there were no mirrors in the library.

The young osmosian sighed and sat back, leaning against the bookshelf. This place brought back memories of him and his parents being here. To his embarrassment, the young boy felt the sting of tears in his eyes. This place had been one of the only sanctuaries he had had when dealing with his father's death, and now it was destroyed. But it was for a good reason. Would Dad be proud of him, for helping save the life of this red haired girl everyone went to such lengths to protect? Or would he be angry for demolishing the place? No, Kevin didn't believe that. His dad was never angry with him. If he were here right now, the young boy could just imagine what the man would do. He'd look around the library, purse his lips and say:

"Well, at least one place in the house isn't turned to ash. We'll rebuild all of this next summer. Maybe we could even get your new girlfriend out here to give us a hand."

A smile appeared on the raven-haired boy's lips at the thought. He took a deep breath to steady himself, so that the tears wouldn't overflow. Suddenly, a small hand rested on his shoulder comfortingly. Gwen.

"Kevin?" she said quietly, "Are you alright?"

"Dude, are you crying?" Ben said. The osmosian could detect the humor in the boy's voice. Oh, how he must be enjoying this.

"Shut it, Tennyson," the obsidian-eyed boy growled, "before I beat you to a pulp."

"Whatever," the 11-year-old said, rolling his green eyes as his old enemy stood up, "Gwen said you found a way to get us out of here."

"Yeah, I did," the other boy confirmed, "It's-"

"Before you tell us your genius idea," the red head interrupted, stepping forward, the air of complete authority. She was determined to prove the boy wrong, and the sooner the better. "Ben, would you mind telling us why you came looking for us?"

"I came here because Sintyana told me to go check," the young hero announced, "And good thing, too."

"So, you didn't hear Kevin calling?" his cousin squeaked. A smirk spread across the girl's future boyfriend's face. He was right, as usual.

"Nope," the boy confirmed, shaking his head, "Why are you asking? Make some sort of bet with the devil, doofus?" He was teasing her now. The red head was glad she could say no. If they had made a bet, who knew what sort of ridiculous thing she'd have to do?

"No, dweeb," she shot back, rolling her eyes, "Unlike you, I have a fully functional brain."

"Hey, Tennysons!" the raven-haired boy cut in. Both cousins turned to look at him.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Do you want to get out of here, or are you just gonna fight all day?" he asked and leaned back against his bookshelf, shrugging his shoulders, "Cuz, quite frankly, either option's good for me."

"Wait, are you saying you don't want to get out of here?" the younger boy asked, eyes widening.

"If I get back to our time, I'm stuck in the Null Void," he said with a shrug, "If I stay here, I'm stuck with you two. Got it, moron?"

"You're _stuck_ with us?" the girl repeated, crossing her arms on her chest. The osmosian's eyes widened as he realized his mistake.

"I meant I'm stuck with your cousin," he said, straightening up and taking a step back from his companions.

"And what about me?" she continued in an overly innocent voice, taking a menacing step forward, "Are you _stuck_ with _me_ too?"

"Ugh, no, of course not," the boy assured her, holding his hands up and continuing to walk backwards.

"Guys!" Ben, who had been thoroughly enjoying this, yelled, and stepped in between the other two and holding up his hands to stop his cousin from trying to kill his future best friend. "As much fun as this is, can we please get back to trying to escape? You two fighting is only fun when we're not trapped!"

Gwen locked her narrowed eyes onto Kevin's frightened ones and scoffed.

"Fine," she finally stated, "Let's get moving."

* * *

Upstairs, in Julie's room, the three girls were silent. Eunice was holding her head in her hands in despair, Julie was rifling through her closet, trying to find something warm for both herself and Gwen, and Gwen was sitting at the vanity table, dragging a brush through her flame red hair, her face cold and emotionless. The only sound in the room was the tennis player's pet, muttering an occasional: "Ship!" He had followed the three girls once he had realized his little mistress might be in trouble. It didn't take long for him to realize that there was no need for him to defend her, so Ship curled up into a tight little ball, and decided to go to bed. The poor thing was all tired out.

"Okay, I found a sweater and jeans, a fur coat, leggings, a knitted tunic, a pair of sneakers, and another pair of fluffy slippers," the dark-haired girl announced, throwing the pile of clothes on the floor and tossing the shoes next to it, "What do you want, Gwen?"

"It doesn't matter," the red head answered, shaking her head as she appraised her friend in the mirror, "Whatever you pick will be fine, Julie."

There was a moment of silence as the tennis player waited for her friend to say more, but she didn't. Gwen wasn't one to talk about her problems. The raven-haired girl knew that. If there was something wrong at school, she never talked about it. Then again, whenever they did see each other, it was usually to go shopping and talk about their boyfriends. That was the one issue in the anodite's life she didn't mind discussing. Not that it was really an issue. Kevin loved her, but he had a tendency to be as reckless and forgetful as Ben sometimes. Maybe that was why the only person the 16-year-old red head would open up to was him. Because she knew he wouldn't judge her.

"Alright, this is getting us nowhere," the Japanese-American finally stated and plopped down next to Eunice on the bed. She was determined to get her boyfriend's cousin to talk come hell or high water. Sometimes she could be as hard to read as the osmosian she cared about so much. "We need to talk about what happened downstairs."

"Nothing happened," the anodite said with a sigh as she turned around, "Right, Eunice?"

"I'm sorry, Gwen," the Unitrix core breathed as she lifted her head to show her tear-stained face, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know," the 16-year-old told her. Neither her tone of voice, nor her face matched her compassionate words, though. "It doesn't matter, anyway."

"You always say that," Julie cut in, frowning at her friend, "You were completely and utterly humiliated, Gwen. It's not gonna help if you just bottle it all up inside."

"Yes, it is," the other girl insisted, glaring at her, "And I am not gonna yell at either of you. You've got your own problems."

"No, we don't," the brown-eyed girl told her, "Ben told me he loves me, Cooper asked Eunice out-"

"Ben told you he loves you?" the blonde interrupted, frowning at the raven-haired girl.

"Yes," she confirmed, smiling slightly and blushing.

"Look, guys," said Gwen, standing up and going over to the pile of clothes, "Why don't we just forget that ever happened? We should be happy. We won the fight with the rakari, Julie and my cousin are in love, Cooper an Eunice are dating-"

"Kevin told you he loves you three days ago…" Julie trailed off in a singsong voice, smiling brightly at her. Well, maybe getting Gwen to yell and complain about how everything in life was miserable wasn't such a good idea. She had Kevin for that. Just the hint of a smile appeared on the green-eyed girl's face at her friend's words.

"He did what?" Eunice asked, her moss-green eyes shining in surprise. She propped her elbows up on her knees, chin on her wrists. "Nobody ever tells me anything around here," she mttered, not loud enough for the girls to hear.

"You know what, Gwen, you're right," the tennis player said, standing up as well and completely ignoring her other friend, "As soon this is over, we're gonna have to celebrate. So, there are aliens after you. Isn't someone always trying to kill you, Ben, and Kevin?"

"Yes, they are," the anodite confirmed, the slight smile on her face widening.

"Good," the girl's cousin's girlfriend said, "Now let's get dressed, get downstairs, and figure out what we're doing next."

"Good idea," the red head stated and both girls started going through the clothes. Once they were dressed, Eunice tapped Gwen's shoulder gently.

"What is it, Eunice?" the 16-year-old asked, turning back to look at her and smiling gently.

"Gwen, I really am sorry," she said, her eyes begging for forgiveness.

"It's okay," the other girl told her, smiling as if though she really meant it. A hopeful smile crept up onto the blonde's face and the two girls hugged quickly.

"Come on," said Julie, opening the door slightly, "We should get down before Kevin does something crazy to try and get Sintyana to talk."

Eunice hurried out, but Gwen still hung back. Julie turned to look at her friend and what she saw frightened her. The anodite had that look on her face. The one that clearly said she was about to do something she was sure she would regret.

"Oh no," the tennis player practically groaned, "What are you gonna do?"

"I think I might take Charmcaster up on her offer," the green-eyed girl told her, sighing as if though it was something she really didn't want to do.

This brought a confused frown to the other girl's face.

"I thought you said you forgave Eunice," she said.

"I do forgive her," the 16-year-old assured her. She was dressed in the black leggings, striped, knitted tunic, and the sneakers her friend had found in the mess that was what used to be Mr. Levin's sister's closet. She, on the other hand, was dressed in jeans, the pink, fuzzy sweater, and slippers. "It's just that if I don't, Charmcaster's gonna do something horrible anyway. This way at least I'll know what to warn Eunice of."

"You have a point," the raven-haired girl agreed and sighed, "But still, we need to get downstairs."

"Right," the red head agreed and exited the room.

* * *

Downstairs everyone stood as still as statues. Kevin's jaw was set, his black eyes smouldering, arms crossed on his chest as he glared at the alien. Ben was standing next to him, his posture similar, only he never could quite pull off that menacing 'I'll kill you' look his best friend was so good at. Cooper was still on the couch, his eyes and mot wide in horror. Kevin knew a rakarus and he hadn't said anything? Was he _trying_ to get Gwen killed?

"You knew a rakarus and you didn't say anything?" the blonde teen voiced his thoughts, his horrified expression turning into one of pure anger, "Are you _trying_ to get Gwen killed?"

"Shut it, Romeo," the osmosian snapped, "Shouldn't you be worried about your own girl?"

"Right now I'm more concerned about what's gonna happen when you betray us and go off with your little friend," Cooper seethed. It took all of the 17-year-old's willpower not to strangle the guy. Instead he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was immediately reminded of what Gwen had told him when he had tried to teach her how to drive: this was what he did when he was disappointed with someone. Apparently, Sinty had picked up on that factor, too. Her shocked face visibly relaxed and she smirked.

"Looks like you finally learned not to pummel everyone who…_disappoints_ you," she said, crossing her legs and leaning back on the couch.

"Yeah," her old friend agreed, a slight smirk appearing on his face as well, "Took me years to master that."

"I'm gone for four years," the rakarus mused, "And you turn from that little kid on the streets to this Plumber, who would give up his own friend just to find some foolish little red head." A dark look crossed her face and she turned away. They barely heard her next words: "You make me sick, Kevin Levin."

She was immediately met with a slap in the face. Her eyes stinging with tears the colour of strawberry milkshakes, she angrily turned back to face the teen. His face was only an inch away from hers.

"I'm not that little kid anymore, Sin," the obsidian-eyed teen announced, "But I ain't gonna hurt you."

"Right," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, still blinking back tears, "Because you need me alive to find that little girl you're so hung up on."

"You owe me," the osmosian growled at her.

"Maybe," she agreed, "But I'm not about to betray my people."

Kevin opened his mouth to yell at her, but Ben stopped him. The 17-year-old turned to look at his friend in disbelief. There was an earnest expression on the younger boy's face, begging the older teen to let him talk before he said or did something they would all regret. The raven-haired teen opened his mouth to interject, but thought better of it. Ben was better when it came to negotiation, and maybe he would be able to get something out of her. He closed his mouth, gave a firm nod and stepped aside. The wielder of the Ultimatrix stepped forward and kneeled down in front of the rakarus.

"Look, my friend here, has had a really bad day," the 16-year-old started, motioning with his hand back at Kevin, "We all have. So why don't you just tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you go. Does that sound like a good plan?"

The alien's black eyes narrowed as she assessed the three humans in the destroyed living room.

"I won't betray my people," she insisted, her jaw set.

"Okay," the brunette teen said slowly, "You're not about to tell us where my cousin is. How about we start out with something smaller? Some of your people were holding a girl called Kai Greene hostage in a ship. Why?"

"Oh, that," Sintyana said with a sigh, "We thought she was the one we were looking for. That is, before we found out what your precious Gwendolyn really looks like."

"You thought Kai was Gwen?" Cooper piped up again, a slightly amused smirk on his face, "That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"Shut up, Doc," the rakarus snapped at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the ex-con smirk and roll his eyes in obvious agreement. The girl had to resist the impulse to stick her tongue out at him like a five year old.

"Seriously," said the bearer of the Ultimaterix, bringing everyone's attention back to himself, "Why did you think she was Gwen?"

"Because she fit all the necessary requirements," the alien continued, rolling her eyes impatiently. Even she had to admit it was a rookie mistake. Trying to find a girl whose grandfather had been a Plumber, who had a magical aura, and who knew Ben Tennyson. Honestly, it was amazing they had stumbled on to someone that close to her!

"Oh yeah," the 17-year-old's sarcastic voice brought her back to reality, "Because she's so obviously an anodite."

"We were looking for a 16-year-old with a magical aura," Sintyana seethed at him, "And she fit the bill!"

"Kai can do magic?" Eunice's quiet, curious voice came from upstairs. Everyone turned their attention to the three girls who were at the top of the stairs.

There was silence as they all looked up at the girl. They had expected her to be bleeding or something, but it didn't appear that Gwen had done anything to her at all. That in itself was alarming. Gwen might have been the reasonable one of their group, but that didn't mean she wasn't impulsive. What had happened with Charmcaster after she kissed Kevin was proof enough of that.

"Ugh, not that we know of," said Ben cautiously, looking around the room questioningly. Everyone was just as puzzled as he was.

Finally, Sintyana voiced their concerns.

"So, the princess decided not to kill the Barbie doll, huh?" she asked, smirking slightly and leaning back in her chair.

"Yes," Gwen agreed, rolling her eyes, "And you should be more careful about what you search for on Earth. There are several cultures with such strong beliefs that they create the illusion of magic. That's why you picked up Kai instead of me."

"Smart girl you got there, Kev," the alien smirked at him as the three girls walked down the stairs, "What a shame it'll be when we capture her and–do I really have to finish that sentence?" There was the evil smile again that the 17-year-old just vaguely remembered from so long ago, when he had been living out on the streets and the two would go rob some poor sap or threaten a kid to give them their lunch money, or else. That smile used to make him feel like she was on his side, like nothing would ever go wrong and they would always get what they wanted. There had been one problem, though. When Sintyana wore that energy mask, she could have whatever features she wanted. So, the rakarus had picked shoulder-length hair the colour of flames and large eyes the colour of emeralds. It had reminded him a lot of a certain other red head, and what was even more surprising, was that he didn't mind it. He didn't feel revolted, or even vaguely upset by her. Gwen's cousin was the one that deserved to die. It wasn't her fault. Nothing ever was.

"No," the osmosian growled at her, hands clenching into fists.

"Wait," the anodite said, frowning as she stopped by her boyfriend and put a hand on his chest, "You know her?"

"Apparently, they go way back," Cooper informed, her a mischievous glint in his eyes. Eunice went over to him and curled up next to the tech controlling teen on the couch. She felt his arm wrap around her instinctively. She hid her face in his shoulder to conceal her concerned expression. Had Cooper changed his mind? Decided that she didn't matter to him as much as Gwen did? No, he wouldn't do that. She had been gone only for a few minutes, though.

A guilty expression crossed the raven-haired teen's face as his beloved girlfriend glared at him.

"Kitchen, now," she growled, one hand on her hip, the other pointing to the ruined room a few feet away.

The osmosian sighed and headed towards it like a puppy that had just been shooed out of the house by his master with a newspaper. Sinty's smirk widened.

"So, now that we know why you tried to kill Kai," Ben continued, trying to get the conversation back on track. "How did you find us in the first place? And I really don't think it was just a coincidence."

"You really think I'll tell you?" the rakarus asked, her black eyes roving over her interrogator, "You're just a kid. I really don't see why everyone's so intimidated by you. Well, besides the obvious."

"Hey, I'm intimidating," the green-eyed teen defended himself, straightening up, "And you didn't answer my question!"

"The badges," Eunice whimpered, looking up from Cooper's shoulder, "That's how they found us."

"How did you know that?" Julie asked. As soon as she and the other two girls had descended the stairs, she had stopped by the banister to survey the scene, not daring to come any closer. Now there was a frown on the young tennis player's face.

"I, I _talked_ to one of her friends," the blonde explained, sitting up. She was speaking to everyone but the rakarus, even though her eyes were locked firmly on hers. "He told me what their plans were. He said something about a girl named Umolise being the gifted one, and how when they got Gwen, they'd give her over to her, and then she'd give her over to some guy who would then kill her."

"Sounds like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to get rid of one person," the teen hero speculated, turning from his friend to the alien, regarding her suspiciously.

"Hey, I don't question your customs, so don't question mine," Sintyana said with a shrug, not the slightest bit bothered by the fact that the blonde knew all this, "Like for instance, why do you earthlings even have sushi? It's just raw fish served on a fancy platter. It'd be cheaper to go poison yourselves."

"You know, she has a point," Ben admitted, meeting the incredulous eyes of his friends, "What is that all about?"

"This from the guy who once drank a stake, sardine, mushroom, and cinnamon smoothie," the teen's girlfriend said, rolling her brown eyes.

"Anyway," said the alien, smirking at how easily her captors could get sidetracked, "You're one to talk. You're putting an entire planet in danger just to save someone close to you."

"Yeah," the brunette teen muttered, turning away from everyone so they wouldn't see the guilty expression on his face, "Wouldn't be the first time."

* * *

A few feet above their older selves and future friends, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were crawling through the very tight space that was the air vents.

"Shouldn't there be some kind of map to this place?" the 11-year-old boy mused, "It's huge."

"Sorry, Tennyson," Kevin sneered, looking back over his shoulder and past the red head behind him at her cousin, "But I'm pretty sure whoever built this place didn't think there would be a bunch of kids crawling around the air vents trying to escape from a library where a crazed psychopath of an alien locked them up in."

"Okay, okay," the young hero said, glaring at the osmosian over his cousin's pale frame, "Jeez, you don't have to be so mean about it."

"Would both of you shut up?" the anodite sandwiched in between the two boys snapped, "I would like to get out of here sometime this century."

"You're still mad about what Kevin said, aren't you?" the girl's more than obnoxious cousin teased, silently enjoying the reactions he was getting from both kids: a groan from Kevin and a huff of annoyance Gwen.

"Ben, shut your mouth, or I swear, I will do a spell to glue you right to this spot and leave you here until Christmas," the green-eyed girl snapped.

There was silence as the three crawled along.

"So, I'll take that as a yes?" the brunette boy said hopefully. His cousin practically growled as she turned back her left hand clenched into a fist, ready to knock out the nuisance they were being forced to travel with. In a flash, the 12-year-old had caught her wrist in his hand, keeping her from hitting the kid.

"You don't want to do that," he warned her. She turned her blazing green eyes on him. There was a flicker of fear in the raven-haired boy's eyes, but only for a moment. In the darkness, with her hair so messed up, eyes shining like a cat's, and her teeth bared, she did look more like something that had escaped from a zoo than a girl.

"And why not?" the young red head demanded, trying to pull her arm out of the older boy's grasp, but to no avail.

"Because, if you knock him out, then we're gonna have to leave him-"

"Hey!" the green-eyed boy interrupted, hurt masking his voice as he pouted. Both of his companions ignored him.

"-and guess who's gonna have to go after him once we get out of here."

Gwen narrowed her eyes, just begging him to inform her.

"Me, that's who," the obsidian-eyed boy announced, glaring at her stonily.

"All the more reason to do it," she said in a fake, sweet voice.

The osmosian rolled his eyes. He should have known that would be her response. No, he had known it. This was a girl who fought aliens on a daily basis, was still undefeated in her little karate club, or whatever it was called, and put up with the always annoying Ben Tennyson every single freakin' day. Of course his glares would elicit practically no response from her. With a sigh, the older boy released his grip on her hand, his face taking on a more pleading look.

"I said I was sorry," he reminded her softly.

"I know," she said, still in that higher holier-than-though tone, before dropping back to her annoyed one, "Now get moving. I didn't crawl into an air vent just so I could listen to doofus back there complain the whole way, and you beg for my forgiveness."

"Hey!" Ben cried again. Listening to these two insult him like he wasn't just a couple of inches away was horribly demeaning.

The 12-year-old rolled his eyes and started crawling again.

"Although," she continued, almost as soon as he'd obeyed her first order, "That last part does sound kind of appealing."

He smirked.

"In your dreams, princess," the raven-haired boy stated, almost to himself.

It wasn't long before they reached a small square of light, meaning an exit. Kevin was the first one who saw it.

"Hey, look!" he called, pointing forward with one hand, "A way out!"

"Ugh, finally," the red head groaned and hurried after him. It turned out that they were in the air vent right above the kitchen counter, where the older Kevin and Gwen were. Both kids stopped to hover at the exit.

"What is it?" Ben whispered, crawling up beside the other two and squeezing in between them. It took them a moment to make sense of the conversation downstairs, and mostly all they got were fragments.

"…you tell me?" the 16-year-old Gwen asked, her back turned to the kids, arms crossed on her chest.

"Cause…nothing…" the older Kevin answered, leaning back against the other counter.

"You know, it's not nice to eavesdrop," the bearer of the Omnitrix whispered to his two companions.

"Benji, since when have we ever obeyed that particular rule?" the younger osmosian asked, rolling his eyes and turning his full attention back to the argument below them.

"You still should have told me," the older version of the red head was saying. It wasn't hard to imagine the expression that accompanied the words.

"Well how was I supposed to know it was her?" the teenage osmosian argued, "Besides, I didn't even remember what happened when I was 13 until she showed up again."

"You didn't remember," the anodite said suspiciously, "Or was this one of those things that you just chose not to tell me and Ben?"

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" the raven-haired teen asked, his brow furrowing. You could see in his eyes though, how much the thought really hurt him. Gwen was one of the only things he was absolutely sure of in his life, and if that was gone...if he somehow, for some reason lost her… His hands clutched the countertop, accidentally absorbing and crushing the surface.

"Oh, Kevin," the girl breathed and wrapped her arms around him. No matter how angry she was, Gwen couldn't stand to see her boyfriend in pain. She could put up a decent fight when she wanted to, but not when she saw how upset he was. Like right now, for instance "Of course I do."

The green-eyed girl felt him relax both at her words and at her touch, and, without hesitation, his arms wrapped around her as well. They stood like that for a few seconds, before the young anodite stepped back and looked into the 17-year-old's obsidian eyes.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, "It's just that with what Eunice said, and then this whole thing with the rakari and Sintyana…"

"It's okay," he assured her, not relinquishing his hold, either, "And I'll tell you whatever you want to know about Sintyana after this whole nightmare is over."

A smile appeared on the red head's lips.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a nightmare-"

_Crash!_

The metal railing that covered the vent gave away under all the weight from the three kids and came crashing down. It caused them to topple down the six feet, give or take, from the vent to the floor, effectively ending whatever illusions any of them might have had about a career of being spies.

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

Kevin was the first to hit the floor, rather painfully, on his back, then the younger Gwen fell, face first, and slammed right into him, bracing her hands against the floor on either side of the boy's shoulders, her legs tangling with his. The girl gave a soft moan and lifted her head, only to find her face not three inches away from the osmosian's. His black eyes stared into her green ones in shock, mirroring her expression. He really did have beautiful eyes. How had she never noticed this when they were younger?

Just as he opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, something else heavy dropped on them both, causing a groan of pain to escape from the anodite as it crushed her closer to the 12-year-old.

"Ugh, Ben," she growled angrily, turning her head as well as she could to glare at her cousin, who was on his back, legs hanging over hers, elbows pressed against the floor.

"Sorry," the 11-year-old muttered

"Ahem," a soft voice from above them said. All three kids turned their heads up – or, in Kevin's case, craned his head backwards, – to see the two teens staring at them with amusement.

"Glad you decided to drop in," the older Kevin laughed at his own joke. It took him a moment to realize that the other four weren't joining in. "What?"

"Not funny, Kevin," the 16-year-old informed him. A second of silence passed, and a small smile appeared on the girl's mouth. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Great, now if you two are done, could we get some help over here?" the younger osmosian growled under the weight of his two companions. His arms were spread out wide on the kitchen floor. "No offence, but what the heck do you Tennysons eat?"

He was rewarded with a kick in the shins from the younger red head.

"Yeah," the older version of the boy drawled out, "Might not want to say that while she's on top."

"Ugh, just help us," the 11-year-old girl groaned, "And, Ben, get off me." She bucked her body hard, causing her cousin to fall off the heap, summersault and land on his back once again on the kitchen floor.

"Oof!" he cried, sitting up and glaring at his cousin, "Was that really necessary?"

She smiled, but the older girl answered for her.

"Yes," she stated, smiling down at him, "Yes, it was."

Just then four figures appeared by the counter.

"Hey, guys," the older Ben's voice came as he, Julie, Eunice, and Cooper took in the scene in front of them, "We heard a crash and – Gwen?" The teen hero's eyes widened as he watched his best friend lift the younger version of his cousin off the 12-year-old.

"Yeah," the older Gwen said, "They dropped down from the air vent."

"What were you three doing in the air vent?" Cooper asked as the anodite helped the groaning osmosian up. He had taken the worst of the impact.

"Escaping one of the worst places in the world," the younger Ben answered, getting up and stretching.

The three teens behind the bearer of the Ultimaterix all exchanged looks.

"The library?" the older Ben asked, looking at the younger Gwen, "That's where she put you?"

"Yeah," the younger girl stated, pushing her hair back behind her ear, "One moment I'm fighting that damn alien, and the next thing I know, I'm being shaken awake by him." She jerked her thumb back to indicate the younger Kevin.

Suddenly, the girl saw slightly amused smiles spread across everyone's faces.

"What?" she asked.

"You might want to look in the mirror," the older version of her cousin said and picked up a nearby pan. The girl, now anxious, took it and stared at her reflection.

"AAAAHH!" she shrieked, so loud that everyone had to cover their ears. The creature staring back at her couldn't possibly be human, let alone her. It had wild, red hair, large green eyes, and pale skin. There were small cuts all over its face, and several small bloodstains. Slowly the girl released the pan, a murderous expression on her face as she turned on her fellow ex-captives.

"You. Guys. Are. So. Dead," she growled as the kitchen appliance clanged to the floor. A small, pale hand grabbed her wrist again.

"No," said the older version of her, shaking her head once the younger girl had looked up at her, "I'll take care of it."

A wide smile spread across both their faces and the older red head let go of the younger one.

"Okay," the 11-year-old girl agreed.

"Good," the older her said, "Now, get upstairs. It's been a long day."

Julie stepped forward and put a hand on the little girl's shoulder.

"Come on, Gwen," she said, and started guiding her up the stairs, "Let's go."

"I'm not two, you know," she snapped, glaring at the tennis player briefly.

"I know," the Japanese-American said gently, "But you were just spying on your older self with an ex-con and an obnoxious kid."

"Ugh, good point," the girl agreed, a shudder coursing through her and allowed herself to be guided up the partly ruined stairs.

"I'll have to get her for that one" the remaining anodite said, casing her boyfriend to have a sudden burst of laughter, which he immediately covered up with a coughing fit.

The girl rolled her eyes before turning back to the other two kids and frowning at them, "Now, what to do with you two?"

"Hey, in their defence," the older Ben said, taking a step away and holding his hands up in surrender, "there are no mirrors in libraries."

"Fine," the 16-year-old said, "You two are gonna help Kevin clear up the damage the fight caused to the house until we figure out what to do next."

The 11-year-old snorted.

"No problem," he stated happily. Clearing away all the damaged furniture and building materials should be easy enough for Four Arms or Xlr8. This was gonna be the easiest punishment ever! He liked this new, forgiving Gwen better already.

His partner in crime though, wasn't so naïve. He knew there had to be a catch, and was almost positive he was right as a slow smile crept up onto the older Gwen's face.

"Without using your powers," she added, smiling evilly.

"Oh come on!" the younger version of her cousin cried, throwing his hands up into the air. Then again, he had been known to be wrong from time to time. Okay, a lot. Okay, most of the time. Okay, there were only the very rare occasions when he was actually right.

"Is it wrong that I am terrified of you right now?" Eunice, who had been standing still as a statue, asked the girl.

The older Kevin chuckled.

"Nope," he promised her, "You should be afraid, too. She's devious."

"Where have I heard that before?" the osmosian's girlfriend laughed, turning around to meet his obsidian eyes.

"Ugh, I'm going upstairs to bed before you two get unbearable to be around," the younger Ben groaned and waved the teens away, already pushing past the blonde couple to get to the stairs. The 12-year-old stood in the kitchen, a frown on his face, glaring at the floor.

"What are you thinking?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix asked warily. He had learned a long time ago that when Kevin had this look on his face, it meant he was thinking hard about something, and it was best not to interrupt him. More often than not, though, the thoughts running through the ex-con's head were insane, and were best left alone until he found something else to obsess over, mainly his car or Gwen.

"I'm trying to figure out what the odds are of the future not changing and her not hating me if I kill her cousin in his sleep," the obsidian-eyed boy answered, lifting his intense gaze.

"Very slim," the red head informed him, and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Go upstairs and get some sleep. You'll need all the strength you can get for tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, Gwen," the younger Kevin sighed and ran upstairs after his future best friend.

"We should all get some sleep," Cooper announced, once the kids and Julie were gone, "I mean, Eunice did get rid of the bodies, but that doesn't mean the rakari won't find some way to get back here. And we should be ready in case that happens."

"When it does, we'll be long gone," Kevin told the tech-controlling teen.

"But for now, you're right," Ben added, stepping forward, "We should get to bed."

"Shouldn't someone stay down here with…her?" Eunice asked, pointing back to a slumped and confused Sintyana.

"I'll stay," the raven-haired teen offered, smirking slightly, "She'd drive any of the rest of you crazy."

"Kevin-" Gwen started in a concerned voice, but he cut her off.

"I'll be fine, Gwen, really," he promised and placed a soft kiss on the girl's forehead, "Although, I completely get why you couldn't stand one night without me."

A half-annoyed, half-amused smile appeared on the anodite's mouth.

"Shut up," she told him and leaned up to give her beloved boyfriend a small peck on the lips, "Goodnight."

"'Night," he told her, smirking at her back as she hurried up the steps.

"You sure about this, man?" the brunette teen asked in a slightly worried voice that mirrored his cousin's, "I know she used to be your friend and all that, but…she's changed now. And not for the better."

"That's what I'm counting on," the osmosian told him, a slight glint in his obsidian eyes. The hero studied his face for a second, trying to find any indication of the teen's motivation, and wasn't surprised that there was none. Kevin always had motives for everything he did, but almost never gave any of them away. Most of the time, they just had to trust him.

Finally, the bearer of the Ultimaterix gave up and gave his friend a small shrug.

"If you say so, Kev," he said resignedly and turned to go. "Goodnight."

The raven-haired teen was left alone in the kitchen with the new couple. No one said anything for a while. Eunice fidgeted with the hem of her sweatshirt, while the two boys stared stonily at each other.

"Um well, we're gonna go upstairs and get some rest," the blonde girl finally said, deciding she didn't want either herself, nor Cooper here for whatever argument lay in store if they didn't get out of the kitchen in the next five seconds. She grabbed her new boyfriend's sleeve and tugged him in the direction of the stairs. "Goodnight, Kevin!"

It took Cooper a moment to budge, but when he saw the osmosian raise his eyebrows questioningly, he finally let Eunice drag him upstairs to his room. The 17-year-old smirked and headed for the living room, where Sintyana sat, elbows propped up on her knees, chin on fists, staring at the coffee table, lost in thought. When she heard her old friend's heavy footfalls, though, she looked up, her thoughtful expression wiped away and replaced by her customary smirk.

"That Doc's a smart one," she stated, as Kevin sank into the arm chair next to her couch. The light from the fire made his eyes seem even darker than they really were. "He did the right thing, not staying down here. And Barbie doll, too. I saw her fighting. She moved like a snake. Think it was animal instinct, or something? Maybe she's related to a vulpinancer or picciss volann."

There was silence as the rakarus stared into the raven-haired teen's ice cold obsidian eyes and waited for him to react. Maybe say what the blonde really was, or defend his friends. No response came, though. She wasn't surprised. While Kevin was an excellent salesman, and could beat around the bush until all the leaves fell off, he didn't mind getting right to the point either. This time, though, it would be different. He wasn't gonna say what was on both their minds. He was waiting for her to say it. Heck, he already had back his precious Gwen, now she was the one who wanted answers, and he knew it. With a deep sigh, Sintyana finally started talking.

"So, how'd she get out?" she asked, as if though this question alone meant a huge surrender.

A smile threatened to pass over the teen's lips.

"Through the air vents," he told her, and all of a sudden, relaxed into the joking kid the alien used to know. "I still can't believe you hid her in the library, though."

"Hey, I had to make do with what I had," Sintyana defended herself, a small smile on her mouth, "And, since the walls were already soundproofed, all that was left was to turn on the force field and voila. The perfect trap. I'm surprised that little version of you didn't figure it out. By the way, air vents? You have got to get more original, Kev."

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin said, waving her words away. It took him a moment to realize what she had really said, though. "Wait. What do you mean the walls were already soundproofed?" If that was true, then somebody had done it for a reason. But, really, what reason was there for making sure no one could hear what was going on in a library? It was so quiet there all the time.

"Isn't this where you Plumbers interrogate all those terrorists?" she asked, frowning at him, "I mean, an abandoned little cabin in the woods… large room with no windows…You do the math."

The teen was lost in thought for a moment. She was right, of course. Places like these were ideal for any Plumbers' business, including alien interrogations. They were practically cut off from civilization, so there was little to no chance of anyone finding them. But then, if that was the cabin's real purpose, why had it never been used? Or, had it? Kevin's eyes widened at the thought. He had used to come out here with his parents very often indeed before his father died. The 17-year-old frowned. He didn't remember much of what had happened here. He had been just a little kid, after all. He did remember one thing though. Whenever they came out here, his father would use every spare moment he had to go to the library, claiming there was some book he desperately wanted to read. His mother would tease him about it, but never questioned it. Did she know that her husband was questioning alien terrorists while they were supposedly on family vacation?

Kevin's chest ached to consider it. He remembered how much Max Tennyson's sons hated him for not telling them the truth about his profession. But the osmosian knew, though. He knew about the Plumbers, and he knew his father had been one. He hadn't lied. He wouldn't do that, would he?

"Kevin?" Sintyana was trying to get him back to the real world, "Yo, Earth to Kevin."

The obsidian-eyed teen blinked and fixed his gaze on her.

"What?" he snapped.

"What is it with you earth teenagers and your mood swings?" the rakarus demanded, sinking back into her seat, not showing even an ounce of fear at her friend.

The said friend rolled his eyes.

"Try living with Benji for a week," he told her, that smirk appearing again, "We'll see what you say then."

"Right," she drawled out, "You mean him and his hot cousin who you just happen to be ready to risk everything for and who just so happens to be the most wanted person on my planet? Great idea. I'm sure my friends will just love it."

The raven-haired teen's smirk deepened.

"Yeah, especially when they find out you knew the guy she's going out with and didn't tell them," he said knowingly.

A sad smile replaced the sarcastic look on the lien's face.

"Friends don't sentence their friends to death, now do they?" she asked quietly, "Except for in your case."

"What?" the teen frowned at her.

"Come on, Kevin, you know what my people are like," Sintyana told him, "They'll do anything and everything they can to get their hands on that pretty little face you call Gwendolyn Tennyson. They'll hurt whoever they need to hurt. They'll kill whoever they need to kill. But no one has to die. Your friends and family…they don't have to get hurt. All of that can be avoided. Is she really worth that much?"

"Didn't you say there was some kind of family back on your planet that made sure things like this didn't happen?" Kevin asked her desperately, grabbing at straws. He might not have had a photographic memory like his best friend, but he wasn't likely to forget something as important as this. "That they protected the innocents so that no one would get hurt?"

"Yeah, I did," she confirmed, a slight smile on her face, "Four years ago. I can't believe you remember that."

"Well, where are those damn morons now?" the osmosian demanded, throwing his hands up in the air and completely ignoring the last part of his old friend's answer, "Innocent people are getting hurt!"

The rakarus narrowed her eyes at him, and if she had had lips, she would have pursed them. She was thinking of whether or not to tell him something, and whatever it was, it seemed like it was highly classified, and therefore, very important.

"That family is back at the base in your hometown," Sintyana said slowly, "And they have a daughter, Umolise. She's the one who saw your Gwen killing off our race."

Out in the woods, Charmcaster had been flying around for hours, jumping from tree to tree, watching for any sign of Winston or Kai. Personally, Ken thought that she was showing off, but he couldn't say that he minded. In fact, he was enjoying the little show a lot.

"See anything?" he called up to where the young witch was perched precariously on a very high, very thin limb in a very tall tree.

"No!" she yelled back at him. The silver-haired young woman jumped down, flipped once in the air, and landed gracefully on her feet.

"Nice," the college student commented, looking at her in amazement, "You know, if this whole witch thing doesn't work out, you'd have a good career in gymnastics."

The sorceress chuckled and appeared in front of him in a flash, her fingers trailing over his chest seductively.

"I know," she breathed, her lips only inches from his, "I'm _very_ flexible."

"Right," said the red haired young man and grabbed a hold of her wrist, taking a step back, "We should be looking for Kai and Winston. Who knows where they are?"

Charmcaster rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest, staring at her companion as he walked ahead.

"You know, they could be in the woods, too," she suggested, starting to follow him.

"What would they be doing in the woods?" Ken asked exasperatedly, humouring her.

"I don't know," the witch informed him, back to her snappy demeanour, "She's a tree-hugging Native, so maybe they decided to rescue a squirrel!"

"That's hippies, Charmcaster, not Native Americans," the college student told her, rolling his eyes.

"Well, they're not anywhere here," the violet-eyed girl snapped, "We've been walking for hours now. Unless they're part that, that fast, blue, striped alien thing that your cousin could turn into, they couldn't have gotten this far."

"First of all, I've been walking, you've been flying," he corrected her, at which she rolled her eyes, "Second, I think his name's Accelerate or something, and third, if you're that concerned, maybe you should fly out over the trees and try to spot them!"

"Well, maybe I will," the young woman said in a voice as cold as ice, and stopped in her tracks. Ken turned back to her, but didn't get the chance to say another word. She had already flown away.

The young man sighed and continued along his path. His sister's friends had to be somewhere here, he knew it. He didn't need that snarky little witch. She could fly around all she wanted, but he would be the one to find the two teens.

A few moments passed before he realized something was wrong. The night was cold, but there was no wind, and yet, the leaves of a bush rustled, branches moved sinisterly back and forth. Suddenly, the young man felt a pang of fear. Who knew what lurked in the depths of this never-ending forest? Charmcaster could be in danger! No, she was an all-powerful witch. Nothing could hurt her.

And yet, something still wasn't right. Black shapes started appearing in the trees. Ken tried to tell himself that these were just creatures of the night. The one in that tree did look like a possum. But even he knew he was wrong. The red haired man stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead, trying not to show how afraid he really was.

Slowly, the figures dropped from the branches. There were six in all, and all of them were rakari. They slowly started advancing towards their pray, while he started stepping backwards.

"You shouldn't have let that girl go," one of the males sneered, holding out a large knife.

"Now who'll protect you from the big, bad aliens?" a female one teased. She was very tiny, but Ken had seen her fight earlier. She knew how to use her size to her advantage.

"You shouldn't have come out here in the first place!" a second male snapped, and swung out at the young man with a large branch he had been holding. Ken ducked out of the way just in time, and the branch hit one of the alien's companions in the shoulder. Another male.

"You idiot!" he seethed, glaring at the creature. The one with the branch was as large as the girl was tiny.

"Let's not fight amongst ourselves," another male voice suggested, this one calmer and reasonably more human than the rest, "We still have a job to do."

"You'll never get your hands on my sister," the college student declared and swiftly kicked the rakarus holding the branch in the stomach. He doubled over, and, in the split second it took the others to assess what had happened, Ken made his escape.

The rakari screamed obscenities behind him and started running. A knife whizzed past his head and stuck in a nearby tree. The boy's green eyes widened and he quickened his pace. It was immediately followed by the sound of the remaining rakarus's voice, also a girl.

"We need him alive!" she yelled, "Alina, the trees!"

There was the sound of someone jumping into the bushes. When the red haired man looked back, he saw that only five aliens continued to run after him. The tiny one was gone.

When he turned back, a small figure, from about a yard in front of him, jumped out of the trees and slammed him to the ground, pinning him there. Her arms held his shoulders, and knees dug painfully into his sides, making the college student groan in pain.

"God, you're strong," Ken gasped as he struggled underneath her.

"Thank you," Alina answered brightly, a wide smile on her mouth as she appraised her captive, "Most people think I'm just fast. It's nice to know that someone has noticed another one of my qualities, for once."

By this time, her friends had reached her.

"Nicely done, Ali," the one with the calm voice stated, "Now if we could only get back to their hideout, I'm sure little Miss Tennyson will be willing to give herself up for her dear, dear brother."

"Aw, can't we keep him?" the girl, who Ken now realized was probably considerably younger than the others, whined, "He's so sweet."

The other woman exchanged a look with her companions. It was a look that Ken recognized well, since it passed so frequently between his little sister and her boyfriend whenever Ben was doing, or thinking of doing, something they considered stupid or unnecessary.

"Not a chance," a new voice declared, and everyone turned – or in Ken's case, tried to turn – to look at the newcomer. It was Charmcaster, flying down with her arms spread out like wings. Alina flattened herself against Ken's body, effectively avoiding Charmcaster's assult. Before any of the other rakari had time to react, the silver-haired young woman had already swooped down, and knocked the one with the injured shoulder and the one with the stick, down to the ground. They both groaned, but seemed to decide that staying down would be their best option.

The one with the knife had gotten it back, and came charging at her back. The witch ducked out of the way and reappeared behind the alien, kicking him in the back and knocking him easily to the ground, face down. She grabbed his knife and turned around just in time to see the other female and the last male charging at her. She stood up straight, like a candle, her hands pressed together, the knife in between them, eyes closed, and whispered a spell. When the aliens were close enough, she opened her eyes and threw the weapon into the air. It twirled around, and a jet of sparks flew from the tip, raining down on the three of them.

The rakari yelled out in pain and took off for the woods, shielding her heads. Whatever Charmcaster had done to the knife, it seemed to be working on her enemies. The sorceress caught it gracefully, and sauntered over to the two others.

"If you do anything to me," Alina threatened in her high, child-like voice, "The next time you see your pretty little boyfriend will be in a coffin at his funeral."

A smile spread slowly across the witch's lips as she stared straight into the determined, bottomless pools of black that were the young girl's eyes.

"Let's not play this game, Alina," Charmcaster said in a tired voice, "As much as I would love to fight with you, I've already had to deal with you and your friends once today, and that's tired me out, so, instead, I'll give you a choice." With a complete air of authority, she turned her back on the young warrior and strutted a few steps away from her, both hers and Ken's eyes following the girl's every move. "You can either let him go, and I'll send you back to your family, or-" the silver-haired young woman turned back around, a devilish gleam shining in her violet eyes. She reached into her bag and took out a handful of tiny balls that she had left over from when she still hadn't learned to conjure up creatures from the ground five years ago. She tossed them into the air, and a moment later, they had transformed into birds, about the size of the girl's forearm. "-you can not let him go, and my _friends_ can deal with you."

Fear shone in the young girl's eyes and for a moment, she seemed too shocked to even move. Then slowly, she released her grip on the red haired boy's shoulders and climbed off him, her eyes still wary of the stone birds. She backed up into the woods and then disappeared into the trees. Ken sat up on his elbows and listened until he could no longer hear the soft sounds of someone landing from branch to branch. The birds shrank back into tiny balls and fell back into Charmcaster's bag.

"Smart girl," she chuckled and leaned down to help her friend's brother up.

"Thanks," he breathed, getting back to his feet, "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Please," the witch smirked, "I'm a witch, remember? I know _everything_."

"Right," he drawled out, rolling his green eyes, "So, little Ms. I-Know-Everything, where are Kai and Winston?"

"They're about six feet into the woods," she said with a shrug, pointing one of her sharp nails to the side of the path that the rakari hadn't run into, "When dawn arrives, they'll find their own way home."

"We should bring them back, anyway," Ken told her in a worried voice, "Just in case."

"Well, sorry, but unless you can carry two people at once, we can't," the witch snapped, "They're asleep."

"Can't you conjure up those rock people to carry them?" he suggested, wondering just how mad his sister would be if he didn't bring back her friends.

"I might be an all-powerful sorceress, but even I have my limits to magic," the all-powerful sorceress informed him, putting her hands on her hips, "I can only do one more spell before I'm gonna collapse, and I plan on that being the one to take us back to Levin's crummy little excuse for a home." This, of course, was completely untrue, but he didn't have to know that. In reality, the girl just didn't feel like having to deal with two more of those incompetent rock mutants.

"Ugh, fine," Ken finally agreed, much to his companion's delight, "But tomorrow we'll bring them back."

The witch chuckled and grabbed his wrist.

"You know, if the red hair and green eyes weren't a dead giveaway, that last statement would have erased any doubt in my mind about you being a Tennyson," she stated, leaning forward and gazing into his eyes with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Um, thank you?" he tried, stepping away from the witch's sensual gaze. She just chuckled again.

A large ball of pink light engulfed them, and, after a brief sensation like he was being sucked through a metal tube, the red haired young man found himself standing outside of the cabin. The fire was all burnt out, but he could hear the faint sound of someone snoring in the living room.

"You did it, Charmcaster," he breathed, looking around, "Charmcaster?"

It was then that the college student realized the witch was lying in a heap at his feet. With a sigh, he leaned down, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her into the house. Before climbing up the stairs, Ken had just enough time to see that Kevin was asleep in the arm chair, while Sintyana was soundly sleeping on the couch, her hands folded under her head on the arm rest as a pillow.

What he didn't see though, was the smile on the sorceress's mouth as he carried her upstairs to his room.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Once again, I'm sorry it took so long. I'll try to get the next chapter up faster, though. R&R!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Love you all! =) Now, onto the story!

* * *

Morning, as usual, came much too soon. Sunlight filtered through the branches of the trees in the forest where Kai slept and slowly woke her. The Native American stretched out on the warm ground, feeling moss beneath her nimble fingers, and in her sleepy state, tried to remember where she was. She remembered riding around in a black and green car…through the woods…then finding Ben…Julie…Winston…the rakari… One by one the images flashed through her mind, and the girl woke up with a start, remembering where she was and why she was there. Her chocolate brown eyes flitted around in front of her, and she slowly propped herself up on her elbows, eyes adjusting to the sunlight. Winston was nowhere in sight.

"Winston!" she called out, standing up and stumbling blindly through the forest.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her down behind a log. A rakarus!

The girl thrashed in his grip, but it was like steel. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but another hand promptly covered it. Wait. She knew that hand…

"Mhm?" she managed to get out.

"Yes, it's me!" Winston's voice breathed in her ear, somehow having understood what the brunette had been trying to say.

"Would you stop doing that?" Kai snapped at him, once he had removed his hand.

"Sorry," the squire whispered, "But keep your voice down! There are rakari over there!"

He pointed at the fallen log the two were crouched behind. Only then did the girl notice that it wasn't large enough to conceal them. The two teens were in a sort of ditch, easily concealed, but also easily escapable. If they were spotted, they could take off at a moment's notice.

Obviously, the British boy had meant that the group was on the other side of the log. He pressed a finger to his lips and slowly raised his head, so that his eyes were just barely visible over the top of the log. Kai did the same. On the other side, huddled together around a small fire, were five rakari: one female, four males.

"…hope she's alright," the young woman was saying. Her back was turned to them, but she sounded concerned, and was huddled into a small ball.

"We'll all be dead if we don't catch that Tennyson girl," a voice that sounded almost human, belonging to a lean, yet slightly muscular rakarus, responded, the tone harsh, "Alina got off easy. Who knows what they're doing to Sintyana."

"Is that all you think about?" another male snapped, this one much burlier and holding a large stick, "We don't even know if they have her!"

"Oh, they'll have her," a third one agreed. His shoulder was slightly hunched, as if though it were dislocated, "Or are you forgetting that she was friends with the great Kevin Levin?"

Kai stifled a gasp. Kevin knew a rakarus? And now she was their prisoner? How could he not have said anything? She exchanged a glance with Winston, wondering if he had known this. His face mirrored her shock. The Native American turned back to the scene before them, deciding to ask the osmosian about it as soon as they got back home.

"Two birds with one stone," the fourth one agreed, staring into the flames.

"This isn't fair!" the woman suddenly cried, "They're human! Aren't they supposed to be more… humane?"

"Easy, Kellanesse," the one who had been concerned about Sintyana told her, "They're only trying to keep the girl safe."

"She could – no, will! – wipe out an entire race," Kellanesse said in a slow, shaking voice, "Why would they be trying to keep her safe?"

"Because theirs isn't the race she'll be wiping out," the last one who had spoken told her.

"How do we even know she will wipe out our race?" the one with the dislocated shoulder demanded, "All Umolise said is that she'll put an end to the war! It doesn't mean she'll kill us!"

"What do you think that means?" the one with the stick snapped, "You know the anodites attacked us for no reason! We merely struck back! It's kill or be killed. The humans have shown where they stand. Now it's time to wipe them out, too!"

"Are you really suggesting that we kill all these innocent people?" the woman demanded, "If we do that, we're no better than the anodites!"

"We _are_ no better than the anodites," the humane one said softly, "They could have taken her to their planet at any time, trained her to do what she was meant to, but they didn't. Why? Because she wanted to stay here and be with the people she loved. What would we have done, if we were them?"

There was quiet as everyone seemed to consider the man's words. Their faces were all grave. For them, this was no joke. This was war, and Gwen was just a weapon. Another piece in a game everyone was inclined to play because of their own selfishness or stubbornness.

"You're right, Dius," Kellanesse whispered, "But how do you know she wanted to stay?"

Dius took a deep breath, as if though deciding whether or not to tell them all something.

"Do you remember the osmosian with them?" he finally said, "The one who never left her side?"

"You mean the 12-year-old who took out Sintyana?" the one who really had no distinction amongst the rest asked, scoffing, "How can we forget?"

"No, the older one," Dius stated, ignoring him, his black eyes on the flames.

"Yes, we remember," the one with the dislocated shoulder – Slouchy, Kai decided to name him – confirmed, "What about him?"

"That was Kevin Levin," he answered, not meeting the surprised glances and seeming oblivious to the gasps from his companions, "I've been tracking him ever since Sinty told me about him."

"You knew he was with her!" the one with the stick, and also the biggest and burliest one cried, lifting the makeshift weapon as if to hit Dius. Again, the young man seemed oblivious. The teens had to admire his resolve. "You traitor! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because of Sintyana, you idiot!" Kellanesse snapped back at him, and then in a much lower voice to Dius: "Because you loved her."

"I still love her," he corrected her, finally looking up from the fire to meet the rakarus's sympathizing gaze.

"But, if Levin's with them, then he won't let them hurt her, right?" the big one said, in a desperate attempt to cheer Dius up.

"Let's hope not," Slouchy said, glaring at him, "But do you really think he could stop that sorceress from doing anything?"

"Easy, Hamil," the one with no distinction said. That seemed to be a pretty common phrase for the rakari to use. It was so…human. "The witch wasn't the one that hit your shoulder."

"I said I was sorry," the big one muttered, sulking like a small child.

The three males broke out into an argument in a language the two teens couldn't comprehend, while Kellanesse shifted slightly so that she would be sitting closer to Dius, who was on her left. Next to him sat Hamil, then the big one, and finally the one with no distinction at all.

"She's gonna be fine, Dius," they just barely heard her murmur.

Suddenly, Kai felt Winston tugging at her hand. She tore her eyes from the scene in front of her to the squire right next to her.

"Let's go," he mouthed, and she nodded. Slowly, they crawled away from the log.

They had gotten a few feet away, before the girl finally dared open her mouth.

"Kevin knew a rakarus?" she snapped at her companion.

"Apparently, yes," the British boy told her. They were still keeping close to the ground.

"Why didn't he say anything?" she demanded, glaring at the ground.

"You know I know as much as you do," he reminded her, "Now, hush. They could still hear us."

The brown-eyed girl had no intention of following orders, though.

"Or maybe he just didn't remember her," she mused, "Although I don't see how you could forget something that ugly. Those things put the Yenodushi to shame!"

Finally the brunette boy sighed and looked back at her over his shoulder.

"If you intend on getting caught by the rakari, then be my guest, but could you please continue your wild rant after I'm a safe distance away?" he suggested in the most politest way possible. The girl rolled her eyes.

Both of them had been watching the ground, and occasionally back over their shoulders, but neither had been watching the trees. Something huge and dark landed on Winston's back, knocking him to the ground. The boy groaned in pain and tried to shake the thing off. A pair of small hands grabbed the sides of his head and hit it hard against the soft ground, knocking him out but not quite killing him.

The small rakarus turned back over her shoulder to look over at the Native American, who had scrambled up just in time, and was slowly retreating. She was small, for a rakarus, there was no doubt about that, and something about the way she cocked her head and her wide eyes scrutinizing the young girl made her look bird-like. She carefully climbed off Winston's back and stood next to his motionless form. Kai also had to admit she was pretty for a rakarus. Much smaller and curvier than Sintyana and Kellanesse. She made no move to attack, though.

"You're very pretty, you know," the tiny being said in a high-pitch, very girlie voice, "I could just let you go and bring your boyfriend back to my friends. Well, them and my step-father." She sneered at the last part. Kai's eyes flitted over the area to a small, sword-like branch leaning against a tree. It was sharp, and would easily incapacitate a human. If she could just make it there, keep her distracted long enough…

"Your step-father?" Kai asked, slowly inching towards the branch.

"Yeah," the girl said, "The one with the hurt shoulder. Hamil. He's the reason I'm here, you know. It was all his idea. Father-daughter bonding time and all that. I don't know why he bothers. Mom doesn't love him, and she never will. And neither will I. I only agreed to come because of Dius."

She waited for a response.

"Dius?" Kai asked, deciding to indulge the girl, "You like him?"

"Don't you?" she gushed, her eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree at the question, "He's so strong and handsome! Just like what's his name, Gwen's brother."

"Ken," Kai supplied. Almost there…

"Yes, Ken!" the rakarus did a little twirl, much like a ballerina. She stopped with her back to Kai. Perfect! The girl quickly grabbed the branch and started heading towards the girl, while she continued rambling.

"Oh, he's so dreamy! I don't know what he sees in that witch, though. Then again, I don't know what Dius sees in Sintyana, either. Our kind usually doesn't fall in love. We have arranged marriages to keep producing, but that's it. There are a few exceptions, though. Like…me! I want to marry for love, too! You know what I mean? The dinners, the dating, the first kiss when you feel butterflies in your stomach… Oh! I want that! Don't you?" She whirled around just in time to see Kai charging at her with the branch held out like a sword. She whirled around again, ducking and landing in a predatory crouch, while Kai lost her balance and fell on her face, letting go of the branch in the process.

"Oh," the girl said, in a voice much more serious than before, as she stood up, picking up a large stone nearby, "you really shouldn't have done that."

Kai rolled over onto her side, out of the way of the girl's small fist, which was clutching the stone.

"You know, the reason they even let me on this mission," the girl said, as Kai grabbed her fallen branch and hopped up on her feet, swinging out at the girl yet again, who easily ducked out of the way, "is that I'm fast and small. But I'm strong, too. So, this might hurt a little." She swung out her stone at Kai, who jumped back into a tree. Sintyana smiled as she wrapped her free hand around Kai's throat, keeping her pinned there. She leaned forward until their faces were mere inches apart.

"You're lucky I need you alive," she sneered in that child-like voice. Her face suddenly turned from a sneer to an all-too innocent expression. "I would have let you go. I felt a connection with you. But then you had to go and try to hit me with that branch. Oh, tsk, tsk. I don't like it when people double cross me. Remember that, Kai." Her name sounded bitter coming out of the girl's mouth. She had gone back from innocent to menacing in a flash.

"Who…are you?" the Native American managed to choke out, clawing at the girl's hand with her sharp nails. It didn't seem to have the slightest affect, though.

"Oh, I'm being so rude," the girl said, her face fastening into a mock-pout, "My name is Alina. It's so nice to meet you."

That was the last thing Kai heard before the world turned black.

Ben…

* * *

Back at the house, Kevin was woken up by the smell of waffles. He sniffed the air experimentally, as if though checking to see if his nose wasn't deceiving him, and wasn't disappointed. The osmosian opened his eyes to see the couch in front of him empty. Sintyana!

He hurriedly turned to the kitchen to tell whoever was there that the prisoner was gone, and demand to know why the hell they handed woken him up, but stopped short. There, standing by the counter, frowning at the waffle pan, was Sintyana.

"What are you doing?" the 17-year-old demanded, not getting up out of his seat, seeing that the rakarus wasn't going anywhere. She'd had the whole night to escape, and yet she hadn't. Rakari had the unique ability to fall asleep whenever they were exhausted enough, and she had been dead to the world ever since her startling revelation last night. The raven-haired teen had known he wouldn't get anything out of her until after she was well rested. This particular thing about rakari had annoyed him very much when living on the streets with her. After they'd had a big day of robberies or beating up first graders, he'd sometimes have to carry her back to the place they were using as a hide-out. Or, other times, she'd stay up all night and fall asleep at the early hours of the morning, sleeping the rest of the day.

"Making breakfast, Sleeping Beauty," she answered, her voice dripping sarcasm, "What's it look like?"

"Yeah, but why?" he asked and stood up and went to help her get the plates that hadn't been damaged in the fight yesterday. It was a reflex, helping someone out now. He almost regretted it.

"Because, I figure, if I'm nice to you, maybe when your girlfriend destroys my race, she'll let me live," Sintyana explained, taking one of the waffles in her hand and dropping it immediately, "Ow!"

The teen laughed.

"It's not funny," she grumbled, holding her hand out and examining it.

"Yeah, yeah," he drawled, absorbing the countertop and removing both waffles, putting them down on the plate. "You know, we had oven mitts, but I'm pretty sure you destroyed them."

"Well excuse me," the rakarus snapped, taking two more frozen waffles from the packet and placing them on the pan, "I haven't exactly been on Earth very long. Be glad I still remember how to use a waffle pan."

Kevin rolled his eyes before remembering what the young girl had just said.

"Gwen's not killing anyone, you know," he said in a small voice, leaning back against the counter, "She's not like that."

"If you say so, Kev," the alien said with a shrug, "So, then I guess the fact that she tried to help her cousin kill you at the Plumbers' Academy about a month ago is just a rumor?"

The teen froze. How on Earth did she know about that? His going crazy with energy was supposed to reach no further than the Plumbers and the Earth's atmosphere…and now that he thought about it, the Null Void, too. Okay, so there were a million ways she could have found out about him absorbing energy again, but how did she know that Gwen had tried to help Ben that brief moment at the Plumbers' Academy? The story was that she only stuck around to find a cure for him, and make sure that Ben _didn't_ kill him. No one was supposed to know the rest!

"I would've never done that to you," Sintyana purred, grabbing a half-melted spatula and trying to get the waffles off the pan. Once she had somewhat succeeded, she turned back to Kevin and spoke, her voice low and something close to seductive. "I'll ask you the same thing I did last night: is she worth it?"

There was silence for a few moments. A smirk threatened to spread across Sinyana's face as she felt his resolve break, if only slightly. When they had been living on the streets, she had liked him, probably more than she should, and had often hoped that he felt the same way. Now, standing in the middle of his kitchen, with his girlfriend just upstairs, probably still asleep, and his lips just a breath away from hers-

"Ahem," a soft voice interrupted them from the doorway. It was Eunice. She was standing there, dressed in the jeans she'd worn yesterday and a pale pink halter top, her hair made up in a ponytail. Her green eyes were narrowed as she assessed the scene, arms folded on her chest in scrutiny. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes," the rakarus growled at the same time as Kevin hastily yelled out, "No!"

Another silence. The blonde seemed to decide to take the osmosian's word for it.

"Okay, then," she finally said and walked further into the kitchen, her posture still tense, "What's she doing up?"

"_She_ made breakfast," the alien announced, holding up the four waffles, "Go on, try one. They won't bite."

"No, but they might poison me," the Unitrix core muttered, taking one of the pieces and nibbling on the crust experimentally before turning back to the obsidian-eyed teen, "Maybe you should go wake everyone up. It looks like breakfast's almost ready, anyway."

"Okey-doke," the 17-year-old said and hurried from the room, trying to get as fast away from his old friend as possible, leaving Eunice to face her instead.

"So Barbie, how's Doc?" the alien asked conversationally, as she stepped aside to let the girl put more waffles on the pan, "Did you two have a nice night?"

The blonde felt her cheeks burning. She and Cooper had spent the night each in his own room, but just the alien's implication made her feel embarrassed.

"Oh, is that a sensitive subject for you?" Sintyana continued in an overly innocent voice.

"Why weren't you surprised?" Eunice immediately shot back. It was a question that had been plaguing her since last night when she had gotten into bed in pajamas that were about a size too big for her and gone over the day's events. When the blonde had told her that she knew about Umolise and Him, whoever he was, the rakarus hadn't seemed the slightest bit bothered by her knowledge. At the time, the girl had simply let it go, but now she wanted answers.

"What?" the strange, black-eyed thing asked, taking a surprised step back. Usually nothing could catch her off-guard. Rakari were trained since childhood to expect anything, to be vigilant, but this blonde girl, whatever part alien she was, truly was remarkable.

"When I told you that I'd spoken to one of your friends last night, and he told me about Umolise," she elaborated, "why weren't you surprised?"

"Oh," Sintyana said, smirking slightly at the girl's words, "Someone was bound to give up something eventually. They don't train us to resist torture, or what to do when we're held at gunpoint, since we're never supposed to let it get that far anyway. The only thing that did surprise me was that you thought he was my friend." The word sounded bitter, like the girl had suggested a cockroach was her pet. "Rakari don't have friends. Only people we can tolerate, and people who we can't stand."

"Kevin was your friend," Eunice whispered, frowning at her warily, "Wasn't he?"

Sintyana sighed.

"How long have you been on Earth, Blondie?" she asked, her eyes regaining some of that sarcastic humor.

"About a week," the Unitrix core admitted, crossing her arms on her chest defensively and jutting out her chin.

"Well, you've still got a hell of a lot to learn about earth people," the rakarus declared, "Now, I'm gonna go lay down on the couch as your little boyfriend ordered me to last night – who is so hot, by the way, – while you finish breakfast. Capiche?"

The blonde merely nodded, before turning back to the pan and listening to Sintyana's uneven steps as she made her way to the couch.

* * *

Upstairs, Cooper was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had intended to spend last night worrying about the day's events, but exhaustion had gotten the better of him, and the teen was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Now, in the early hours of the morning, he was going over what had happened last night.

The rakari had attacked again, which quite frankly, wasn't that unusual. A friend of Gwen's had shown up to save them and she was a witch. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. They'd beaten them. Definitely nothing to worry about. After the battle, he kissed Eunice and she got Gwen mad. Now that was something to worry about. The blonde boy knew Gwen liked him to an extent, and that the girl's remark would make her mad, but he had sincerely thought that the rakarus, who was the only witness to the event, would be smart enough to keep her mouth shut! What was even more terrifying was the fact that the 16-year-old red head hadn't even done anything to her. Gwen was a forgiving person, but not that forgiving.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Cooper turned his head to frown at it. There was the knock again, more impatient this time.

"Come in," he called, sitting up and moving to get out of bed. The door slowly opened to reveal Kevin Levin. He was standing there, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed on his chest, a glare on his face.

"Mornin'" he said, not making a move to enter the room.

"Good morning," Cooper answered, a slightly surprised look on his face. His last wake up call had been the sound of the raven-haired teen's girlfriend screaming and causing a riot. Now, he almost thought he would have preferred that.

"Your girlfriend says breakfast's ready," the 17-year-old told him, relaxing slightly, "Get dressed and get your butt downstairs."

A small smile threatened to break out across the younger boy's face.

"She's not my girlfriend," he reminded him, sitting back on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, yeah," the osmosian drawled. There was silence for a few seconds. The older of the two was lost deep in his thoughts. He knew Cooper cared about Gwen, and that did give the 17-year-old the right to hate the young blonde boy, but, for some reason, he didn't. Maybe it was that he had saved his life, or that he finally had someone else besides the osmosian's girlfriend to care about. Cooper didn't know as much about the Unitrix core as the other three did. He didn't know that they probably only had until after the anodites somehow found a way to defeat the rakari, and then Azmuth would come to take her back as his lab assistant. And, since the teen had every intention of having this war end as soon as possible for the sake of his beloved girlfriend, this meant that the couple only had up to a week. With a sigh, the teen met Cooper's childish, ice blue eyes with his own obsidian pair.

"Let me give you a piece of advice," he suggested, but in a voice that clearly meant he was going to whether the blonde teen said yes or no, "Ask her out for real soon. Cuz as soon as this whole thing is over, Azmuth is taking her back to Galvan, and, odds are, you'll only see her the next time there's an alien invasion."

A smirk spread across Cooper's mouth.

"So, next Friday then?" he asked, as if though alien invasions happened every week. Which, technically, they did.

The raven-haired teen rolled his eyes and left the room, leaving Cooper to do what he had said.

As he turned away from the door to head to Julie's room, in his peripheral vision, the teen saw Gwen, just closing the door of the master bedroom behind her. She looked up and met his eyes, her lips curling up into an involuntary smile.

"Good morning," said the anodite. She was dressed in a black mini skirt, much like her old one, and a dark blue sweater.

"Hey," her boyfriend answered, smiling slightly, "How'd you sleep?"

"Not bad," she said, as he leaned forward and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The girl repressed a shudder that, quite frankly, wasn't all that terrible.

"So, I can stop coming over?" the teen teased, knowing full well that even if she said yes, he'd still go to her house every night, if only to check on her. He needed to know she was safe, especially after all this.

"No!" Gwen answered, a little too quickly, her eyes wide with terror at the very thought. There was a moment of silence – her reaction had caught the 17-year-old off guard – before he burst out laughing. She rolled her eyes, her hands planted on her hips.

"And how did you sleep?" she asked sarcastically, punching him lightly in the arm to stop the laughing fit.

"Slept like a log," the osmosian confirmed, rubbing his arm where she had punched him. Damn, that girl hit hard!

"Of course," she muttered, rolling her eyes again, "I forgot you could sleep through anything." Kevin irritating her early in the morning was a very normal thing. It was too bad that the young girl still hadn't gotten used to it. There was an impish smile on the teen's face as he waited for her to change the subject. The truth was that he had indeed slept like a log. The raven-haired teen didn't have dreams. Not anymore, anyway.

"Where's Sintyana?" the red head asked, remembering that her boyfriend was supposed to be watching her and changing the subject just like he had expected her to.

"Eunice took over on Rakarus Watch and sent me upstairs to get everyone," Kevin explained with a shrug. That had been the wrong thing to say. The 16-year-old's eyes widened and she put her hands on her hips.

"Did you just say that Eunice, the girl who cries when she sees someone fishing, is downstairs with an evil alien at this very moment alone?" Her voice had been rising in pitch so that now she was nearly yelling at him, and was stepping forward very menacingly, causing the osmosian to back up into the wall, a finger pointed at him accusingly.

Finally, he got his bearings back and grabbed her wrist.

"No," the 17-year-old said forcefully, "I said that the girl who yesterday took out a dozen evil aliens all by herself is now downstairs with a waffle-making chick, who's terrified of you, by the way, alone."

Some of the anger left the red head's face and she sighed, pulling her hand out of her boyfriend's grasp.

"Okay, but would you please go downstairs and make sure she doesn't irritate her to death?" the girl finally asked, "You did say that she'd drive any of the rest of us crazy."

"What, Eunice?" the obsidian-eyed teen asked innocently, "No way."

The green-eyed girl rolled her eyes.

"Very funny," she said sarcastically, "Now go downstairs. I'll wake everyone up."

"Whatever you say, Gwen," he said with a resigned sigh and started heading for the stairs, "I already woke up Cooper, though."

"Did you tell him that his new girlfriend is downstairs with your old friend all by herself?" the red head asked slowly.

"Um…no?" he said the word like it was a question.

"Ugh," she groaned, holding her head in one hand, "Get downstairs, now."

With a frightened look in his eyes, the osmosian quickly ran downstairs, leaving the girl to roll her eyes at his retreating figure, and head to the nearest occupied room.

Next to Cooper's room, was Eunice's. As Kevin had already told her, her room was empty, so Gwen went across the hall to the younger Kevin's room. She pushed open the door and nearly gasped.

Last night, when the teens had sent the younger kids to bed, they had forgotten the fact that the rooms downstairs weren't the only ones that were completely wrecked. They had forgotten that the rakari had busted the window in the younger Kevin's room, and now the entire place was a mess. The closet was knocked over and clothes littered the floor, the bed was broken in half, and the desk was knocked over, the drawers in different corners of the room.

The 12-year-old was curled up into a little ball on the floor, covered by a blanket. The sight brought a smile to the anodite's face. He looked so precious, and absolutely nothing like an ex-con who had fought about a dozen aliens last night, gotten himself locked up in a library, and then crawled through air vents to get out.

"Kevin?" she whispered, crouching down and shaking the boy's shoulder gently.

"I don't wanna go to school, Ma," he muttered, batting her hand away and rolling over away from her.

"Kevin," the girl repeated, louder this time, and shook his shoulder harder. She rolled her eyes and stood up, hands on her hips. "We're under attack from the rakari again." That woke him up.

"Ah! Who, what, where-? Oh," the 12-year-old cried. He had been thrashing frantically to get disentangled from the blanket during the screaming part of his speech, and now relaxed, seeing the 16-year-old's amused face towering over him. The look of slight surprise on the young boy's face melted into irritation. "Was that really necessary?" he demanded.

"Yes," the red head stated, still smiling, "Time to get up. Breakfast's ready."

"Kai made bacon again?" the osmosian asked sarcastically, rolling his obsidian eyes.

"No," Gwen answered, and then froze. Kai…were she and Winston back yet? Were Ken and Charmcaster? Maybe something bad had happened and the rakari had gotten them. No, Charmcaster wouldn't let that happen. She and Ken had to be back here. But, then, what about the other two? If they hadn't found them, then they must still be out in the forest…all alone…with vicious aliens at every corner…

The green-eyed girl gasped and grabbed one of the nearby bedposts, lowering herself onto the edge of the ruined bed. Just the thought of those creatures was enough to make her sick, and she hated it. She hated feeling weak, like she was the pray and someone – or something – was the predator. It just wasn't right! She was supposed to be the all-powerful energy being! She was supposed to be able to keep her friends and family safe. She shouldn't be running at the first sign of danger, and yet that was exactly what she was doing, and therefore, putting the people she loved in danger. The brief segment of the TV program that they'd seen just a few days ago flashed in front of the anodite's eyes. The cowering family that could have so easily been her own…

She shook her head frantically. No. That wouldn't happen to her family. Grandma Verdona wouldn't let it, would she?

"Gwen?" the younger Kevin's voice interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to reality, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, astonished to find how shaky her voice was. The girl cleared her throat and looked up warily to find the young boy standing beside her, his eyes full of concern. She tried to force a small smile on her mouth, with reasonable success. "I'm fine."

"You don't look like you're fine," he argued, frowning slightly, "I'll go wake up everyone else. You go get some breakfast."

"Kevin, really-" the red head tried to object, but the pale boy interrupted her.

"Please?" he begged, his eyes so large and wide and pleading that it would have broken down even the strictest principal, or the firmest mother. Naturally, it worked on Gwen, too.

"You are impossible," she stated, standing up and heading for the door.

"That's what they tell me," Kevin murmured, almost after she shut the door.

Just as the 16-year-old exited the room, across the hall, another door closed behind another teen. Cooper. He had gotten ready and was heading downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey, Cooper," the girl greeted, smiling at him brightly.

"Good morning, Gwen," the blonde teen said, smiling at her, too.

Suddenly there was an awkward silence. Neither knew what to say. Technically, they were still in a life and death situation, like usually, but they were alone. A week ago, Cooper would have given anything for that, but now, now there was Eunice. Cooper wanted to spend every possible moment with the beautiful young girl, especially after the short confrontation he'd had with Kevin just a few minutes ago. But, even so, he somehow couldn't summon the will to get his feet moving towards the stairs. It was like the young anodite had some unbreakable hold over him. Almost like a spell…

"Well, I'm heading down to breakfast now," the blue-eyed boy announced, but he still didn't move.

"Yeah, me too," Gwen told him, and then sighed, "Cooper, about Eunice…"

"Yeah?" the tech-controlling teen said, perking up slightly. Eunice Schmunice. If being with another girl for twelve hours was what it took to make the red head realize he was the one for her, then she could be as good as gone. After all, as Kevin said, it could only last a week or so…

"I just wanted to say that I am so happy for you two," the girl said, smiling like she really meant it.

"Oh, thanks," Cooper said, his happy mood diminished and replaced by guilt. How could he have thought those things? Eunice was beautiful and wonderful, and, for some completely incomprehensible reason, she wanted to be with him. Gwen was dating Kevin. For her it would _always_ be Kevin, and he would have to make his peace with that. He really was messed up. Even with a girl like Eunice by his side, he was still crushing on another guy's girl. He needed help.

"Well, good," the anodite said, smiling a relieved smile, "Let's get down to breakfast. I'm sure Eunice made something really good."

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed, and they both headed for the stairs.

When he got downstairs, the tech-controlling teen immediately turned to the kitchen. Just outside, through the glass door, he saw the blonde, smiling as she fed the blue birds that had gathered around her little pieces of waffle. He immediately forgot all about Gwen, which was probably why he didn't realize that the beautiful red head was no longer with him.

As soon as they had gotten to the stairs, something grabbed the young girl's arm and tugged her down behind the banisters. She opened her mouth to scream, but a pale, thin hand with sharp, purple, perfectly manicured nails clamped down over it.

"Shh!" Charmcaster hissed, pressing the forefinger of her free hand to her lips. There was a wild look in her eyes, topped off with another, slightly humorous one.

"Charmcaster?" the younger of the two young women whisper-cried, and threw her arms around her friend in a hug. They were still crouched down behind the banister like a couple of three year olds playing hide and seek. "You're alive!"

"Please," the witch smirked, rolling her eyes and hugging her back, "You really think that anything could get me? Well, besides you, of course." The red head rolled her eyes.

They let go of each other and Gwen once again noted the wild look in her friend's eyes.

"What are we doing?" she asked, referring to the whole being crouched down behind a banister.

"We're hiding," the 21-year-old explained slowly, like she really was speaking to a child.

"From what?" the anodite asked, a confused look on her face.

"That," the silver-haired young woman said, pointing over the other girl's shoulder. She immediately turned back to see the younger Kevin emerge from his room. He stood in the hallway and then yelled, as loud as possible: "WAKE UP!"

There was the sound of people falling out of bed, several screams, until finally, a door burst open, and revealed a very furious-looking 11-year-old Gwen.

"Kevin!" she snapped.

"Uh oh," the older boy muttered, and took off down the stairs.

Several more doors opened, and the younger Ben, older Ben, and Julie all stuck their heads out.

"What was that?" the tennis player asked, frowning at them.

"That was Kevin," the younger version of her boyfriend explained, "getting chased down the stairs by my cousin." There was just the faintest hint of pride in his voice.

"So, basically, nothing out of the ordinary," the older version of him said, smiling at her jokingly. She smiled back.

"See you downstairs for breakfast?" the Asian-American asked him.

"Sure," he answered and sniffed the air, "Mm. Eunice is making waffles."

Julie giggled and rolled her eyes.

"See you downstairs, Ben," she said brightly, before shutting the door.

"You are so smitten," the 11-year-old said to the teen, smirking slightly.

"Hey, this is your future, remember?" the 16-year-old told him, before shutting the door.

"Ugh," the boy groaned, "Don't remind me." He shut his door, too, probably to go back to sleep.

"Well, that was strange," the older Gwen said, frowning at the now empty hallway.

"Hey, he's your boyfriend," the witch told her, growing impatient now.

"Alright," the red head said with a sigh, seeing her friend's impatience, "What did you do to Eunice?" It wasn't that hard to guess what was on the young woman's mind. If she considered something wrong, she would do all in her power to make it right again. And, apparently, she thought that what the blonde had said about her friend last night was very wrong indeed.

"That perky little Barbie doll?" she asked, her violet eyes widening in innocence, "Not a thing. Her boyfriend, though? Him, I put a spell on." There was that same devilish/humorous glint in those eyes.

"You did what?" the anodite nearly screamed.

"Shh!" the sorceress snapped, gripping the girl's shoulder to keep her from getting up and giving away their hiding spot, "Your brother's still sleeping!"  
"Ken?" Gwen frowned, momentarily distracted by this news, "He's alright?"

"Of course he is," she scoffed, taking her hand away, "You really thought I'd let something hurt someone that hot?"

"First of all, ew," the anodite said, rolling her green eyes, "And second of all, what did you do to Cooper?"

"Nothing much," the witch said nonchalantly, "It was only a little spell to make him fall madly in love with you. Thank God for that schoolyard crush he has on you, or else it wouldn't have worked. Don't worry! It'll wear off!" She waved her hand like it couldn't possibly matter. "And, anyway, if I were you, I'd worry about my own boyfriend." The witch pointed through the gap downstairs at Sintyana and Kevin, who were sitting on the couch.

"They're just old friends," the red head told her dismissively, even though she felt something like when she'd seen him holding Jennifer Nocturne, or found out he'd made out with Caroline – she refused to think of her as the young woman crouching down in front of her now. If she was being honest with herself, the girl knew it was jealousy.

"Oh, really?" Charmcaster's voice went to the most innocent of tones, "'Cause, if I remember right, Levin's never exactly been the most trustworthy boyfriend, has he?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes at her.

"Sure," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, her expression skeptical, "And it's not like you've ever made out with him."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," she said, holding up her hands in surrender. Suddenly, she looked back downstairs in the general direction of the kitchen, even though it was hidden behind the wooden wall, and smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go see if my evil plan works." She jumped to her feet and headed towards the nearest room door, which just so happened to be the master bedroom, intending to fly out through the window.

"Wait!" the 16-year-old called, just as she pulled open the door. The 21-year-old turned around, a slightly exasperated expression on her face.

"What, Gwendy?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest in annoyance. She really wanted to see how this whole thing worked out.

"What about Kai and Winston?" the anodite asked, frowning in curiosity.

"What about them?" the sorceress asked, mirroring the girl's expression.

"Did you and Ken find them last night?" she asked, feeling a little guilty that the question hadn't entered her mind sooner. But, given the fact that one of her friends, who had been crushing on her for a while, was now hopelessly in love with her, not to mention apparently dating one of her friends, the green-eyed girl figured she could be excused.

"Yeah, and don't worry, they'll be back here in an hour," the silver-haired young woman announced, relaxing her stance, although it still clearly read 'annoyed', "Two at most."

"You left them out there all alone?" the other girl demanded, feeling her fists clench at her sides like they always did when she was mad at Kevin.

"They're alright," the witch insisted, her eyes hardening.

"Okay," the red head said with a sigh, reminding herself that with Charmcaster, she couldn't just yell and give orders. She could only do that with Kevin and Ben. "But would you please go bring them back now? Just to be safe."

"Ugh, fine," she agreed and turned back to the room. Just before entering, though, the violet-eyed girl turned back around to fact her, a devilish smile on her face.

"By the way, Gwen," she said conversationally, "You're right. Levin is a good kisser." She ducked into the room before the energy blast the girl threw at her could reach her.

* * *

It took the teenage Ben a minimum of fifteen minutes to get ready in the mornings usually, but this time it only took five. He grabbed the first clothes his hands came into contact with and pulled them on, anxious to get downstairs and see Julie. It only hit him then, as he pulled on his shoes, that it wouldn't just be Julie. It would be three kids, two more couples, his cousin, a witch, an evil alien intent on destroying Gwen, and two humans…probably. Hopefully, Ken and Charmcaster had found Kai and Winston last night. If not, they'd all have to go looking for them again, and, well, now that he thought about it, that didn't seem like such a bad idea. More time alone with Julie.

The young hero smiled at the thought. Even though he liked hanging out with Kevin and Gwen, Julie would always be his girl. It was sad that she couldn't join the trio on missions, but no. That would put her in danger, and that would just be plain horrible. Julie wasn't Gwen, and he wasn't Kevin. Neither of them had superpowers, just superweapons. Suddenly, the teen felt a strange sense of remorse for his friend. How did he endure watching someone he loved risk her life every day? It seemed impossible to him, and yet, somehow, Kevin managed it.

Suddenly, the teen heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he called.

The door opened to reveal Julie, dressed in a pale purple hoodie and white skirt. It wasn't her usual outfit, but close enough.

"Hey," she said gently.

"Hey," the bearer of the Ultimaterix answered, smiling at her, his eyes surprised. The tennis player wasn't one to miss details, and this one certainly registered.

"Expecting someone else?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"I wasn't expecting anyone," he corrected her, and the smile widened. There was an awkward silence. "Purple's a good color on you," the 16-year-old commented.

"Thanks," his girlfriend said, and suddenly the smile turned into a frown.

"What's wrong?" the boy immediately asked, worried that he might have upset her, "I meant that as a compliment. I mean, pink's still the best, of course, but-"

"Ben," she interrupted, holding up her hand and shaking her head to stop him, "It's not that."

"Oh, sorry," he said, blushing faintly, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," she assured him, the smile that the hero loved so much making another, faint appearance. Like the sun shining through a thick bank of clouds on a winter's day. "What else can I expect from the guy who takes romantic advice from the local mechanic?"

"Hey, don't bad-mouth Kevin," he teased, "That's my job."

The Japanese-American laughed.

"Seriously, Jules, what's wrong?" Ben asked, serious again. He didn't like it when something upset his beloved girlfriend. It felt like, besides defending the whole universe, he still had a job, no, an obligation, to make her happy, and when she was upset, it meant he was failing.

The girl sighed and went to sit down next to him on the bed. The teen wrapped his arm around her shoulders instinctively, and she leaned her head back on his shoulder.

"I'm worried," the girl announced in a muffled voice.

"About what?" her boyfriend asked, honestly curious, "The rakari are gone, Charmcaster and Ken probably brought Kai and Winston back hours ago, and, even though the house is in ruins, we've still got a roof over our heads. What's there to worry about?"

"Maybe that we're harboring a bloodthirsty alien intent on killing your cousin?" Julie suggested, her voice slightly sharper and a little irritated.

"Oh, right," he said as she pulled back to look into his green eyes, "That."

"Yes, that!" the raven-haired girl cried, her expression going from mildly irritated to nearly hysterical, "How can you not be concerned? I know she's an old friend of Kevin's, but she's trying to _kill_ us, Ben!"

"Look, we're not harboring her," the teen tried to soothe her. "We're just holding her captive until we figure out what to do next."

"Eunice left her friends out in the forest," the brown-eyed girl told him, still nearly hysterical, "They'll come looking or her, and when they do-" she broke off mid-sentence, taking a deep breath to steady herself. It wasn't like Julie to lose control of herself like that. She was usually so calm and collected, but today, for some reason, was different. It was the shock catching up to her from yesterday. Usually, the Asian-American only sat on the side-lines, never in the midst of a fight. When they'd had to deal with Kevin going insane, it had taken her a while to get over it all. The guy was a very good friend, after all. And then she'd had a tennis racket and Ship, who was just as good at dispensing tennis balls as any machine, to help her get back to normal. There was no racket now, and Ship had gone outside, probably exploring like he often did when he wasn't with her. There was only Ben, who loved her, and that was enough.

The 16-year-old hugged her tighter, understanding how she must be feeling right now.

"It's gonna be okay," he whispered quietly, stroking her hair.

"How?" the girl managed to croak out through the sobs that were threatening to choke her.

"We'll deal with the rakari, and Gwen can take care of herself," he explained, still in a calm, reasonable tone of voice, "You don't have to worry about anything. I'll protect you."

The 16-year-old lifted her head to smile at him gratefully. At that moment, everything did feel right to her. She trusted him, and knew he'd make good on his promise. But, Ben being Ben, he just had to go and ruin the moment.

"Although, if Ship turned into some sort of high-tech tennis racket, and we unleashed you on the rakari, we'd really have nothing to worry about," he laughed.

Julie smirked and rolled her eyes, getting up off the bed and holding out her hand.

"Ready to go down to breakfast?" she asked, smiling brightly, all trace of worry gone.

"Duh, I'm starving," the brunette teen agreed, and wrapped his larger hand around her small one, letting the beautiful young girl drag him from the room.

* * *

Downstairs, Kevin was sitting in the arm chair, frowning. Of course, getting yelled at by his girlfriend wasn't anything unusual, but still. Sintyana was sitting on the couch next to him, her legs pulled up, elbow on the armrest, chin on her fist. He had been down here for nearly five minutes, and still hadn't said anything. The only sound was the birdsong coming from outside where Eunice was feeding bluebirds tiny pieces of waffle.

"That is one weird chick," Sintyana noted, frowning as she watched the smallest one perch on the girl's finger like in a Disney movie and she fed him another piece of waffle, "What species is she, anyway?" If she was going to hell, might as well do it without this stupid nagging to find out what the hell this Barbie doll really is.

"None," the osmosian said firmly, turning back to lock his hard, obsidian eyes on the girl.

"You mean she's a genetically enhanced human?" she guessed, frowning slightly.

"No," Kevin said, shaking his head, enjoying her discomfort.

"Then what is she?" the alien demanded, growing impatient.

"She's a machine," he answered with a shrug.

"A robot?" she asked, her eyes wide in surprise. Were the humans that smart?

"Nope," he said again, shaking his head. Now the rakarus was annoyed. If he wasn't gonna tell her, he should just keep quiet!

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and Cooper appeared, frowning down at the floor distractedly.

"Morning, doc," Sintyana smirked. If she couldn't get the answer out of her old pal Kevin, she'd get it from the guy in a relationship with a gorgeous blonde, but who was, for some completely unfathomable reason, totally head over heels for the red head. "Mind telling us what your little girlfriend is?"

"She's an anodite," Cooper answered, still not looking at them. He had spotted Eunice out on the front porch and a wide smile spread across his face. Okay, maybe not completely head over heels.

"No, dude, that's my girlfriend," the 17-year-old growled at his friend, hands tightening into fists on the arm rests.

"Oh, right," the blonde teen muttered, a confused look on his face, "Excuse me." He hurried through the glass door to see the blonde girl, leaving behind a furious Kevin and an amused rakarus.

"Weird," she commented, smiling at the couple outside, "Guess he's not completely over your precious Gwen yet."

"Shut up," the osmosian growled, fists tightening, knuckles almost bone-white. Sintyana shrugged and complied easily.

Suddenly, they heard the loud slam of a door, followed by a very loud "WAKE UP!", a higher, shriller voice yelling out: "Kevin!", and then footsteps, as the younger Kevin, still in his clothes from yesterday, followed by the younger Gwen, who was dressed in pale blue pajamas, hurtled down the stairs.

"Get back here!" the little red head yelled, as he ran through the kitchen grabbing a waffle on the way. Eunice and Cooper looked up with wide eyes at the couple as they pushed past them.

"Well, that was nice," Sintyana smiled, "Back on my planet, those two would be engaged by now. Are they?"

"Hilarious," the 17-year-old said, rolling his eyes at her. She merely shrugged before her face became serious again.

"So, what now?" she asked, leaning back onto the couch, her eyes running over the damaged room.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, frowning in confusion.

"You have me, your house is destroyed, you 'took care' of my friends," the rakarus explained, making quotation marks around the words 'take care', "What are you gonna do now? You can't keep running forever."

"Not forever," the teen said, trying to sound indifferent, "Just until the anodites kick your butts and send you back to wherever the hell you came from."

"Please," the girl scoffed, waving his words away like they were the most ridiculous thing in the world, "The anodites are too busy protecting the humans. We'll wipe them out before next Tuesday. But…a lot of innocent people will die, Kevin. Including people you care about. So, I'm asking you again, is she really worth it?"

"Yeah, she is," the obsidian-eyed teen answered immediately. He'd known she'd bring up the subject as soon as possible, and he'd had his answer ready. Gwen was the reason he'd helped Ben out in the first place, well, that and wanting to be a Plumber. No matter what Sintyana said, he wouldn't give her up for anything.

"Fine," the rakarus grumbled, "And here comes the princess herself."

Sure enough, Gwen was descending the stairs, frowning down at them.

"Hey," the osmosian called up to her, frowning at the worry in her eyes, "You okay?"

"Charmcaster left Kai and Winston alone in the woods last night, and put a spell on Cooper," the older red head announced, getting right to the point, "Does it look like I'm okay?"

"She put a spell on the doc?" Sintyana asked in surprise, "I thought she was mad at Blondie."

"She is," the anodite explained, sitting down on the arm of her boyfriend's chair, "But Charmcaster has a…complicated perspective on things."

"She's using her boyfriend to get back at her," Kevin translated.

"Huh," the rakarus said, frowning in slight awe, admiration just barely on the surface of her gaze, "Smart chick."

"She is," the 16-year-old agreed, sighing.

"So, little Red Riding Hood," she continued, "What was with the wake-up call a couple minutes ago? Get tired of going door to door and just decided to ask the kid to do your dirty work?"

"No," the girl said, her eyes narrowed, arms folded on her chest as she assessed the alien, "Kevin sent me down here."

"How come?" the 17-year-old asked, frowning at her. If the younger version of him thought something was wrong with her, then it must be. Also, the worried look in the anodite's eyes had him worried, too.

"It's nothing, Kevin," she hastened to assure him, attempting a weak smile, "Really."

Kevin opened his mouth to argue, but was immediately cut off by his old friend's humorless laugh.

"Ha!" she cried, causing both teens to turn to her. The alien was only focused on the anodite, though. For once Kevin wasn't that important. "A girl who can't tell the truth to her own boyfriend is supposed to be the biggest threat the rakari have ever faced? Pathetic."

Gwen's eyes narrowed at the alien. How could she sit there, making jokes, when her people were out there destroying humans? Were these beings really so heartless? Suddenly, the girl felt a spark of anger ignite within her. It was the same anger that she'd felt when that Hybreed was throwing her Kevin around like a rag doll. The anger that led to turning into an anodite. Would it really be so bad to wipe these things out of existence? From what she understood, the young girl would be doing a huge favor to both the human race, and the anodites. They were keeping her family safe, so why not return the favor?

"What can you tell us about the rakari?" she demanded, her voice as hard as steel. This seemed to catch the rakarus off-guard, but she quickly composed her face to that same humor-less smirk from just two seconds ago.

"Give me one good reason why I should," she said, crossing her arms on her chest as if though believing it impossible for the young anodite to do so, "Millions of people will die unless you surrender yourself. Your family, friends, anyone you've ever had contact with. Rakari are ruthless and they'll stop at nothing to get to you. Any escape attempts you try now are only delays for the inevitable."

"Why do you care so much?" the 17-year-old snapped. It was the same argument she'd tried to use on him, but it was clearly having a much bigger affect on Gwen. "I thought rakari had no friends."

"You thought wrong," the older Ben's voice rang from the top of the stairs. All three occupants of the living room looked up to see him and Julie standing there. Only the teen's face was hard as his voice, while hers had a vague trace of fear in it. The young hero hurried down the steps and stopped when he was directly in front of the rakarus. Julie seemed too frightened to come down at the moment, and so remained where she was.

"There are people on your world who you want to protect, too, aren't there?" he asked, his voice noticeably more compassionate. Gwen was good when it came to arguing with Kevin, fighting aliens, and sometimes settling fights, but her cousin was better with negotiations, and he knew now exactly how to get Sintyana to help them. Or, at least he figured it was worth a shot. "Your parents, siblings, or maybe even a boyfriend? You know that humans and anodites won't be the only ones to die, so will your people. But we can help you end the war. We just need some information, Sintyana. Something that you can tell us. Help us, and we promise, no one's gonna hurt your family, or you."

The rakarus looked at him with hard eyes for a moment, and then her face relaxed again. She looked over the 16-year-old's shoulder at the red head and her boyfriend. She cared about Kevin, a lot, and she knew this girl did, too. And, as she had already pointed out, there wasn't much hope for her race. Gwen was very powerful, that much was obvious, and, maybe, if she helped them, she'd somehow get out of this alive.

"I don't care about my family," the alien said through gritted teeth, and looked up to meet the emerald green eyes of the girl sitting only a few feet away.

"So you're not gonna help us," she said, glaring at her slightly.

"I never said that," Sintyana announced, scoffing as if though the idea was ridiculous, "I do have people I love back on my world, and if you hurt them, I'll have to kill you." There was more of a joking note to the girl's voice now, as if though she was actually trying to be helpful. It made one of the corners of the anodite's mouth turn up in a small half-smile.

"We're not gonna hurt anyone," Ben assured her.

"Speak for yourself," his best friend scoffed.

"Well, other than the aliens that try to fry us," he quickly added.

"Fine, I can live with that," the rakarus said, rolling her eyes.

"So, besides me giving myself up," the osmosian's girlfriend said slowly, "is there any other way to end the war? Or, at the very least, get your people off Earth?"

Sintyana took a deep breath and steeled herself. This would be hard, a betrayal to her people, but, if it meant that everyone she cared about would be safe, it was worth it.

"Look, from what I know, Umolise, the girl who saw you destroy us, is no fighter," she announced, her eyes hard as steel, "If you can get to her, threaten her enough to tell the others to back off…all your problems will be solved."

"Didn't you say she was a part of the 'Protectors'' family?" Kevin asked, still tense. The bearer of the Ultimaterix briefly wanted to ask what exactly the 'Protectors' were, but decided to keep his mouth shut. It seemed pretty obvious anyway.

"Yeah," the alien agreed, "And?"

"Doesn't that mean that she's gonna have one hell of a protection squad?" the osmosian elaborated, "Like, as big as the group of DNAliens we had to fight at the Hybreed invasion?"

Sintyana took another deep breath.

"They are so gonna kill me for this," she muttered under her breath, her head down, staring at her lap. Finally she looked up again, her face serious and composed once more. "Her parents stayed back on our world to make sure the anodites didn't try to attack it while all the forces are down here on Earth. They sent the usual number of bodyguards for her, no doubt anticipating that you would try to get to her, but they hired someone else, too."

"Him," Gwen murmured.

"Yeah, him," Sintyana confirmed, "She's hiding out at the base. If you can get us to Bellwood, I'll show you where it is."

"And then you go right back to fighting anodites," the 17-year-old concluded.

His old friend shrugged.

"That's the way it is, Kev," she said, "I give you a chance to keep your little girlfriend safe, you let me go. Deal?"

There was silence for a moment. The teens seemed to be contemplating all the risks of trusting this alien, who was the closest thing to a con artist they had ever seen. Besides Kevin, of course. But they needed to decide very quickly. They didn't have much time. Finally, a small voice, barely audible, spoke from the top of the stairs, making the decision for them.

"Deal," said Julie.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it! R&R please!


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Hey guys! Good news. I'm not dead! I am so, so, so sorry I haven't updated for so long! I've been having some major writer's block, and a lot of real life drama at my new school. Thank you guys for the amazing reviews! I love you all!

* * *

Out by the front porch, Charmcaster hid in the tall branches of a nearby tree, ready to see her plan in action. A smirk graced the young witch's mouth. She was not only a master when it came to spells and magic, but also romance. The sorceress knew what she was doing when putting the love spell on Cooper. It wasn't permanent, as she had already assured her little friend Gwendy, but it was very strong. Perhaps she should put a spell on Ken, too. The 21-year-old laughed to herself darkly as she reclined on a tall, very strong branch, ready to watch the show.

There, down on the front porch was Eunice, tossing little bits of waffle out to the tiny little birds that fluttered around her head. The silver-haired young woman scowled. She wouldn't be at all surprised if the blonde suddenly broke out into song and started dancing down one of the paths only to stumble upon a house full of dwarves, bit a poisoned apple, and then was awakened by a kiss from Prince Cooper. In fact, now that she paid closer attention to it, Charmcaster could hear the girl humming to herself. The scowl deepened and the young woman rolled her eyes.

Cooper was standing a few steps behind her. He hadn't moved since appearing at the doorway. Charmcaster's scowl turned into a frown. Maybe she had done something wrong and made the boy fall in love with the Unitrix core instead. She quickly dismissed that thought. She was never wrong! Especially when it came to magic.

"Hey, Eunice," the tech-controlling teen said unsurely, taking a cautious step forward.

"Cooper!" she cried, whirling around, causing the birds to startle. She wrapped her arms around his neck, obviously pleased to see the teen. He smiled and hugged her back. Charmcaster made a face.

"Sorry," the blonde said, stepping back and giving him a small smile.

"It's okay," he assured her, smiling back and keeping her away at arm's length, "I'm glad to see you, too. It's pretty much a miracle we lived through the night."

The girl rolled her eyes.

"The rakari aren't that smart," she said, waving her hand dismissively, as if though talking about a bunch of unruly kids and not dangerous aliens intent on killing their friend. "And I was very careful about where I took them."

"I'm sure you were," Cooper said, his eyes softening. Suddenly the door burst open to reveal a 12-year-old out of breath Kevin, followed quickly by an 11-year-old furious Gwen. Both kids ran past them without a word. The two blonde teens exchanged looks.

"What was that about?" Eunice asked, staring after their retreating figures.

"No idea," Cooper declared, and then his pale blue eyes flitted to the waffle in his new girlfriend's hand, and the small crowd of birds behind her, serving as an audience to their conversation. They all looked a little bewildered at the two kids. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" the blonde laughed, completely forgetting about the two kids, at least for the moment. Someone else would make sure they weren't captured by a bunch of alien creeps. She turned back to the birds, as if though only remembering what she had been doing, and wriggling out of the boy's warm embrace. The last she was rather reluctant to do, though. "I'm feeding the birds. Someone has to."

"Why?" Cooper asked, frowning at her back, "They've survived long enough without you."

"Yeah," she agreed bitterly, "A lot of things have."

The blonde boy groaned.

"Is this about that Gwen thing again?" he asked, holding his head in his hands. She didn't say anything, feeding tiny pieces of waffle to the little winged creatures. That was more than enough of an answer. Cooper groaned again. "Why does nearly every conversation we have include Gwen?"

Eunice sighed.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, turning around and hanging her head, "It's just that I still think you're gonna dump me and then go to her as soon as Kevin goes too far in one of their fights and she ends up breaking up with him."

"Seriously?" Cooper barked out a laugh, "I don't think you have anything to worry about there. The guy cheated on her and she forgave him, tried to kill her twice and she forgave him, tried to kill her cousin and she forgave him– Really, Eunice. Do I have to go on?"

The blonde's face softened as she looked up.

"No," she admitted, "But still. She is beautiful. How do I know you won't leave me?"

"I'm not gonna deny that Gwen's beautiful," the teen said, "And that she's got a good heart. And any guy would be lucky to have her. And-"

"Cooper!" the girl interrupted him with a laugh, swatting his arm playfully. He smiled, wrapped his arms around her once again and pulled her close.

"Really," he said as she wrapped her arms around his neck again, a smile on his pale face, "Gwen might have everything except for one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

"She's not you," Cooper breathed. Charmcaster turned away before they could kiss. No, not just turned. She cringed away from the completely clichéd, fairytale-like scene and jumped to another branch, a furious look on her face. How could her spell have gone wrong? She did everything right!

The witch gave an animal-like snarl before jumping into the thicket of the trees, landing gracefully on yet another branch, and then another, and another. Had the all-powerful Gwen Tennyson put some sort of counter-hex on the guy? About half a mile in, which she had crossed surprisingly fast, the sorceress stopped and reached into her trusty old bag of magic tricks. She pulled out an old spell book and turned to the page with the love spell. The book wasn't as good as the one Gwen had stolen from her when they were kids, but it was good enough.

At the bottom of the page, scrawled in nearly invisible writing, there was a small line the silver-haired young woman had neglected to read.

"'Warning'," she read out loud, "'if subject of the spell has already been in love with person before, spell will not work.' Of course." The last two words were a snarl. The catches of each spell in this book were very irritating for the young witch. She missed her old one.

But now there was no time to be sad. The violet-eyed young woman rose up into the air, as graceful as a swan, if a swan were silver, magenta, purple, and black, and started flying over the treetops. She remembered her promise to the older Gwen to go find Kai and Winston and bring them back home. Or, what passed as a home in these woods. The 21-year-old promised herself that she would get going as soon as humanly possible, but first, the two kids. They couldn't exactly run around the woods without supervision all day. Better stop them now before they got too far.

She flew over the trees and landed on yet another sturdy branch – this forest sure had a lot of them – knowing that the kids would come by here any moment. She wasn't disappointed. Only a few minutes later, the younger Kevin came into view, the younger Gwen still behind him. The witch whispered a spell, and one of the roots that was just barely visible below started growing at a pace much too fast for any normal plant. It grew out into the middle of the road, seemed to weave out of the earth, and then back in. It was directly in the path of the 12-year-old.

"Kevin Levin, you are so dead!" the younger anodite threatened. The boy's laughter echoed down the path and stopped abruptly as he tripped over the root. Anyone else would have undoubtedly seen the thing, but his head had been turned back to see how far away the girl really was. Charmcaster's eyes widened. That girl sure had some lungs on her.

She was also very fast. Only a second or so later, she tripped over the boy, falling on top of him in a heap, just like last night when they'd fallen out of the air vent. The root slithered back into the ground, disappearing from view.

"Ugh," the little red head groaned, bracing herself up on her arms, "Watch where you're going!"

"Me?" the osmosian snapped, rolling over so that he could see the 11-year-old's face and propping himself up on his elbows, "Isn't this like the tenth time you've fallen on me this week? One might even say you've fallen for me." There was a suggestive glint in his obsidian eyes to match the tone of his voice. "A lot."

"Oh, ha, ha," the anodite drawled, rolling her green eyes and turning her head around to see what her companion had fallen over, "What did you trip over, anyway? Your own feet?"

"I don't know," the boy told her, peering over her other shoulder "Must've been a root or something."

"There's no root here," the green-eyed girl informed him, frowning back at the empty space behind her shoulder. Both of them were still lying on the ground, and neither made any move to get up. She turned back to Kevin. "Boy, it must be such an embarrassment to have you on our team."

"Hey, you tripped, too," he reminded her, a little defensive.

"I tripped over you," she snapped, rolling her eyes again.

"Right," he said in a lazy drawl, "Speaking of which, you mind getting off now?"

"Oh, sorry," the girl murmured and inched her way off him. Soon enough, both kids were standing upright.

"Well, I guess we better get back to camp now," she said, and started heading in the direction they had just come from.

"Can't you summon up those rock things your little witchy friend made to scare off the freaks?" the raven-haired boy asked her, starting to follow.

"What?" the red head demanded curtly, her green eyes wide as she stopped in her tracks, immediately turning on the 12-year-old, "What witchy friend?" Her face was pale as a sheet since she feared she already knew the answer to that question. The silver-haired young woman up in the treetops face-palmed herself. How could they not have told her?

"Um… I think her name was Jinxcaster or Charmmaker or something like that," the osmosian answered, his mouth turning down at the corners into a frown as he read her expression.

"Charmcaster?" the girl cried in a high, shrill voice, loud enough to cause the neighbouring birds to take flight from their nests, "She's not my friend! And what's she doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, right, Benji mentioned something about you two being mortal enemies," the boy muttered and ran a hand through his raven hair.

"Yeah, and that you make out with her in the future," the 11-year-old growled through her teeth, her little hands clenching into fists at her sides.

"Hey, in my defence," he said, taking a step back and putting his arms up in surrender, "she is totally hot."

"Ugh," she groaned, grimacing at his words. This, for some reason, caused the kid to smile.

"And, besides," he continued, "you guys make up in the future."

"Like you and Ben?" the asked warily, her face hidden in her hands.

"Sorta," he announced, flashing the girl a bright smile and rolling back on the balls of his feet, hands clasped behind his back like he had some sort of secret to tell her. This, of course, did not escape the young girl's notice.

"What?" she asked, "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

"Now, Gwen," the osmosian said in an overly innocent voice, "What makes you say that?"

"Never mind," the girl waved away the question, "I probably don't want to know anyway, do I?"

"Nope," he agreed, that same smile still on his mouth, "But you never answered my question. Can't you do that spell?"

"What spell?" she asked, a confused expression taking place on her pale face.

"The one to make those rock monster freaks appear from out of the ground," he clarified.

"No, I can't," the young anodite said, a trace of frustration in her voice, "Charmcaster's…well, she's stronger than me when it comes to witchcraft. I can barely do a simple shield spell."

Up in the trees, Charmcaster scowled at the girl's words. If only she knew how powerful she truly was. A shudder ran down the young woman's spine. If Gwen hadn't been self-taught, if her grandma had come back to teach her how to really use her powers, if she had abandoned her cousin to get the knowledge that would turn her into one of the most powerful beings of all time… Well, then Ben Tennyson would be no more than a memory, the Omnitrix – Ultimaterix, whatever – wouldn't seem at all powerful when compared to that one little teenage girl, and the violet-eyed young woman would probably have suffered much worse than just a few days in a parallel dimension. The sorceress shuddered again. Thank God Levin gave her a good enough reason to stay on Earth.

"Really?" the younger version of her sort of saviour asked, his eyes wide, bringing the witch back to reality, "I figured you were the powerful one."

"How come?" the red head asked, frowning at him as they began their trip back to the house. The witch supervising them jumped from the branch to the next one in a feeble attempt to follow the two kids. Soon, though, it was clear that if she wanted to follow the kids, she'd have to either let herself be seen by them, or go back into the woods and risk losing them from her sight. She sighed and turned away from the couple. The 21-year-old trusted them enough to get home safely and not be stupid enough to let the rakari get the drop on them. Now it was time for part three of her little morning adventure: finding the native girl and her foreigner boyfriend.

* * *

Ship woke up at the crack of dawn. He had that distinct sixth sense that all animals, or rather, pets seemed to have about bad things happening that day. Humans would call it intuition. Back on his planet, they would have called it something else. It was like that feeling he had had when Baz-El, his old master, had gotten hurt and he'd had to go after him, only this time, the little creature had no idea who was hurt. Maybe he should just leave it alone and try to get back to sleep here in this nice, warm, comfortable bed by his mistress. After all, what if it was like last time when he had saved Kai without knowing all the trouble she would cause for Julie. But there was that nagging sensation again. Whether it was good or not, the Galvanic Mechamorph could not just sit idly by while someone was in trouble. He took one last look at the still sleeping tennis player and snuggled up close to her side.

"Ship," he murmured softly and turned to the open window. Julie sighed in contentment and he took the shape of a toy helicopter and flew off, searching for the cause of distress. Were the strange aliens back, again? He searched all around the house and found nothing dangerous. Was one of the guests missing again? The alien frowned and flew back into Julie's room. He slid easily through the crack in the door, reforming again once outside, and went to check by the stairs to see who was staying down there with the alien.

Satisfied to see both Kevin and the dangerous creature sound asleep around the coffee table, he went to the room across the hall from the Japanese American's, where he knew the girl's boyfriend resided. He was snoring loudly, sprawled out on the bed with his arms over the sides. Good. Ben was safe too. Ship went to check the room next to Julie's and found that Eunice was curled up into a tight little ball under the covers asleep. Next to her was Cooper, then Gwen, and, across the hall, the three kids. The alien then checked Winston and Kai's rooms. Both empty. He groaned internally. The universe could be so cruel sometimes! Would Julie be mad if he now went out of his way to help bring the Native American girl back? He had no time to worry about that now. The important thing was to help the two teens.

Once again, Ship flew through an open window and through the woods, searching for anything familiar of the two. He found nothing. Just when Ship was about to give up and go back home to the others, – maybe the teens had just decided to change rooms, – he heard voices. They weren't familiar and they sounded strange, distorted, but they were definitely voices. The creature flew towards the sound as if though somehow drawn to it. He stopped just at the edge of a small clearing, where several people were gathered.

No, not people. Rakari.

Ship slowly edged back, frightened that they might spot him. But, even if they did spot him, he could turn into nearly any weapon in the world! They didn't stand a chance!

With that thought in mind, the little pet inched closer to the clearing until he could see five large, hideous creatures in black jumpsuits. Three of them – all male – were arguing. One of them was bigger than the rest and had a large stick in his hands, and another had a slumped shoulder. The third had no discernable difference that would tell him apart from the others what so ever. The other two – one male, one female – were sitting back, enjoying the fight like Julie enjoyed watching Ben watch Sumo Slammers. He remembered her once saying that while the show was interesting indeed, watching her beloved boyfriend's reactions to the parts that excited him or saddened him was sometimes even more fun.

Across the clearing, there was the sound of something that sounded distinctly like footsteps, huffs, and someone dragging something very heavy, like a bag of flour.

All five aliens tensed, as if though ready for a fight, when a small female rakarus, who would barely reach Julie's height, appeared through a large gap in the trees, dragging behind her Kai and Winston!

"Ship," Ship whimpered. Now he was glad he'd come out here. Maybe this group had stuck around to get Sintyana back. He would be doing everyone a big favour by taking them out!

"Alina?" the woman cried, springing to her feet. The one sitting beside her did the same.

"Hey, Kel," Alina hissed, dumping the two unconscious teens on the ground and turning to smirk at the gapping aliens, "You guys mind taking these two back to the van? I knocked them out but I don't know how long they'll stay that way…"

"Of course," the other male, the one that hadn't been fighting, said in a curt monotone and nudged at the two teens with his chin. "Maruco, Sherd." The big one and the average one stood up and headed towards the girl and her unconscious captives.

"Good to see you're still in one piece, sweetheart," the one with the stick huffed, tossing Kai over his shoulder like she was a rag doll.

Alina giggled. The sound was false somehow.

"You really thought that sorceress would get the best of me, Maruco?" she asked, beaming at him.

"Yeah," the one that was apparently named Sherd confirmed and looked back over his shoulder at the only seated member of the party, ignoring the girl's pout, "You oughtta be pretty proud of your little girly there, Hamil. She not only escaped, she brought back hostages!" He gave a harsh laugh and dragged Winston away, following Maruco down a path.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Hamil sprang to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at the smallest rakarus.

"You escaped the sorceress?" he hissed in a voice so distorted that a human wouldn't have been able to understand the words, "_And_ brought back hostages? Is this some kind of trap?"

"It's not a trap, _Dad_," Alina hissed back in a voice only slightly more comprehensible than her stepfather's, "They were wandering through the woods, I found them, knocked them out, and brought them back here!"

"You did well, Alina," the calm one assured her, "Your mother will be very proud of you."

"Humph," she sniffled, crossing her arms on her chest and turning her nose up in the air.

"How did you escape the sorceress?" Hamil demanded once again.

Alina rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air dismissively, as if though escaping Charmcaster had been the simplest thing in the world.

"Oh, it was nothing," the tiny alien assured him, "Turns out that little witch isn't as tough as she looks."

Ship didn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. Instead he slid up the nearest tree trunk, barely feeling the rough texture of the bark, and travelled from tree to tree until he reached the two other rakari, who had been dragging Kai and Winston away.

"So, how do you think she did it?" Maruco murmured to Sherd, once they were a safe distance away.

"Who did what?" the smaller, more irritable of the two snapped back.

"Alina, you dolt!" he nearly yelled, "How did she escape? And bring back the two kids? We all know she's good, but not that good."

"That's true," Sherd answered, frowning at the man, "Maybe they sent her back here."

"With two defenceless humans?" the larger one prompted, seemingly incredulous.

"They have ID masks," his companion continued, "We could be dragging the anodite herself for all we know."

"Nah, the humans aren't that crafty," Maruco disagreed, shaking his massive head, "Maybe the kid just caught a lucky break."

"Against, what is it now? Thirteen armed humans?" the unremarkable alien speculated now.

"And don't forget that little whattayacallit," his friend added, "The one that can turn into weapons."

The small 'whattayacallit' hiding in the trees let out a quiet "Ship!" as he realized they were talking about him. If he had been human, the little creature would have held his breath.

"The Galvanic Mechamorph?" Sherd asked, eyes widening a little, "Hadn't even thought of him. Boy, that little thing would be worth thousands at the black market."

Ship felt a slight tinge of annoyance at the rakarus's words. He found it ridiculous, and more than a little offensive, that everyone always seemed to want to make some cash either using or selling him. The exceptions to that rule were Julie and her friends and Baz-El. Then again, the alien hadn't seemed all that keen on keeping the little thing he had created…

"Yeah, but I wouldn't sell him," Maruco said in a voice that sounded both gentle and gruff.

"Oh, you wouldn't?" the other alien asked. He didn't sound incredulous, angry, or even upset. Merely curious. "Well then, what would you do with it?"

"I'd keep it around the house," he answered simply, "Gets pretty lonely around there, you know?"

"Why don't you just get yourself a wife already?" Sherd snapped gruffly.

Before his companion could answer, the Native American girl he had so hastily thrown over his shoulder stirred. The two aliens froze as Kai groaned and opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, but Marcus quickly hauled her to the ground, or rather heaved her there onto her back like he was beating a sack, knocking all the air out of her lungs. The brunette gasped, trying to get her breath back, while the two aliens crouched over her. Ship let out another tiny squeak. How could Maruco, the man who had just said the words that would reach to the heart of any pet, have just tossed an innocent – alright, not so innocent – girl to the ground? It didn't seem right!

The alien didn't have too much time to dwell on that factor, though. Sherd had dropped Winston to the ground, where the teen made a soft groaning noise, and, acting on instinct, Ship slid onto the squire's wrist, forming as small and unnoticeable a watch as possible. He didn't want the aliens to get suspicious, but he also didn't want to miss out on what happened next.

"Listen here, girlie," Sherd was threatening the still-gasping Kai, "If you scream or call for help, or do anything at all that we don't tell you to, we'll strangle your little boyfriend right here on the spot. You got that?"

In response, the brown-eyed teen gave a soft whimper, still not able to talk normally.

"Good," Sherd declared, a menacing smile spreading across the horrible man's mouth, "Now, get up. Nobody's gonna be carrying you while you're conscious and your legs still work."

Kai groaned again and nodded. Poor girl. Now Ship remembered why he'd helped her in the first place. He had seen her hurtling down from the alien ship from 3,000 feet, yes, but that wasn't the only reason. As soon as he had been certain she was safe, the Galvanic Mechamorph had set her down on the ground. The invasion had already begun, and the little pet wanted to be with his owner, to make sure she wasn't in danger or trouble. But, seeing the Native American there, so helpless, it had triggered some instinct for the young creature. An instinct to protect someone vulnerable. So, he had travelled through the forest, hoping to find someone that could help this helpless teen. It had been pure luck and coincidence that he had stumbled upon Kevin's cabin and his owner. The little pet had been overjoyed to see the Japanese American, and certain that she and Kai would get along. Oh, how wrong he had been.

Maruco grabbed Winston and hauled him over his shoulder, and the two men continued down the path. Suddenly, Ship heard a soft rustling from up above. Thankfully, Winston's arms, along with his torso, were falling down the large alien's back, so Ship could look up at the trees without worrying about the aliens seeing him. Of course, he also missed the occasional secret looks that Kai sent over her shoulder at Winston to make sure he was alright.

The rakari stopped in their tracks and looked up at the branches.

"What was that?" Sherd asked Maruco, searching for the source of the sound.

"I don't know," the alien muttered, "Hey, you don't think she…"

He trailed off. There was no need to finish the sentence. Sherd already had Kai pinned to the nearest tree, and was shaking her roughly by the shoulders. The little alien, now turned to a wristwatch, could only tell by the sounds that were emanating from nearby.

"Who did you contact?" he yelled, practically spitting in the girl's face, "Is someone coming for us?"

"No," the girl answered, having enough courage and nerve to sound defiant, "I didn't have time to contact anyone, and your little friend here stopped me from calling for help." Ship had to admire the girl's strength and resolve. Not everyone would hold up this well when a rakarus was spitting at them.

He wasn't paying that much attention, though, to what was happening with Kai. He was far more interested in the sound that had come from above. A second later, he found it. Cleverly concealed by the branches, only seen if you were looking directly at her, was Charmcaster. She was perched up on a high branch, watching the scene down below. Ship nearly sighed in relief. Help was here.

"You know, Sherd, I think she's telling the truth," Maruco told his team mate, "It was probably just a bird."

"A bird," Sherd muttered to himself after releasing a slightly smug Kai and forcing her to move forward, "How do these humans survive here? Bunch of filthy creatures…" His mumbling trailed off into incoherent grumbles.

Finally, they stopped. From his spot on Winston's wrist, Ship could just barely make out the edge of a clearing. Suddenly, he heard gasps from the teens' captives, and moments later, a harsh chuckle. It was a voice he had heard before, and the one he had been waiting to hear for the past five minutes: Charmcaster.

"Tsk, tsk, boys," the witch laughed, "You should know better than to park your car out in the open. Kevin, Ben, and Gwen are all Plumbers, you know. They could easily write you a ticket for this."

"We'll keep that in mind," Maruco promised, dumping Winston next to the nearest tree. The boy's wrist flopped in such a way that Ship was face-first into the ground, but, with a silent complaint about the accommodations, the alien turned around so that he could see the battle. There was a large, grey van parked in the middle of the clearing that was no bigger than a garage, and on the hood sat the silver-haired young woman, a devilish grin on her lips. The two aliens stood across from her, hands at their sides, feet slightly apart. Their stances reminded the little pet idly of an old cowboy movie Julie had once been forced to watch.

Kai was slumped against another tree. She looked just as bad as she had the day Ship found her after that terrible fall from the spaceship, if not worse. No doubt Sherd had pushed her there.

"Also, you're technically trespassing," the 21-year-old continued in a bored voice, "This land belongs to the Levins."

"As if we care," Maruco scoffed.

"You should," the sorceress told him simply, her voice conveying only the slightest hint of a threat, "Neither the Plumbers nor the anodites will be very happy when they find out about that. So, I'll do you guys a favour." She hopped off the car and stepped a few silent steps forward, not so much as disturbing the earth beneath her feet. "You leave the kids alone, and I'll keep my mouth shut, alright?"

The two aliens chuckled.

"I don't think so, princess," Sherd sneered, "The rakari are on the verge of victory. What do a few aimless laws matter to us now?"

"And I was so hoping you wouldn't be difficult," the witch said with a sigh. Her hand reached into her trusty bag of magic tricks and grabbed hold of something. Ship saw her toss what looked like little seeds to the ground, before they turned into snakes and chased after the two men. The Galvanic Mechamorph wanted nothing more than to join the fight, but there was something holding him back.

_No weapons,_ Julie's voice rang in his head, clear as day, _I don't want them to know how valuable you are._

Deciding to oblige his little mistress, Ship stayed put. The snakes were small, though very lethal. Sherd, once backed into a tree with the largest of the many creatures seething at him, gave an animalistic snarl and jumped forward, wrapping his long hand around the snake and tossing it away. It gave a small screech as it flew over the trees. The others had all turned their attention to Maruco and were now chasing him up the tree, barking like dogs at the bottom. The large man gave a small whimper as he climbed higher and higher up the thin tree.

Charmcaster smirked as she admired the sight. Who knew a rakarus could be so terrified of such little things? She almost missed Sherd heading straight for her, but luckily, ducked away just in time. Instead, he landed a harmless hit on the car.

"Your aim is as bad as your breath," the witch told him, as he tried hitting her again. She summersaulted backwards and landed with her feet firmly planted on a branch not too far away from where Maruco was holding on for dear life.

The silver-haired young woman yelled out a spell and an energy blast hit Sherd hard in the chest with enough force to cause him to soar across the clearing. With a loud bang, the man thudded into a tree trunk and slid down to the ground. Kai was a few feet away, ready to ambush him with a huge stick that worked as well as any bat.

Again, Charmcaster almost missed the attack. Maruco reached out from his hiding place, his large hand wrapping around the 21-year-old's arm.

"Haha," he sneered, tugging her closer, "Got you."

Charmcaster hissed as she struggled to maintain her balance on the branch. She hissed another spell, the same one she had used for the root to grow out of the ground when she had made the 12-year-old Kevin trip. The branches started growing, winding around the huge alien's body, strapping him to the tree. He gasped and tried to claw his way out of the branches, which were now more like vines, but that didn't help one bit.

The violet-eyed young woman chuckled and the branch slowly moved, or rather, grew out, so that she could be right in the alien's face as she muttered her next words: "The harder you struggle, the tighter it'll get."

Across the clearing, Kai was still busy whacking the smaller of her two captors with the stick. Finally he got tired of dodging or taking her attacks and grabbed the end of the stick, pulling the girl into his chest. She was quick, though, and jabbed her elbow into his ribs, casing him to release her.

"Stop," a loud voice echoed throughout the clearing. Ship twisted on Winston's wrist so that he could look up. The voice had come from directly above him. The small alien nearly whimpered once he saw the gun pointed right at the squire's head. It had been the other female rakarus, the one Alina had called Kel, who had spoken. She was also the one holding the gun. On her other side was the calm alien, next to him Alina, and next to her Hamil. They were all staring at the fight, only Kel's and the other one's expressions were calm and unemotional, while Alina and Hamil's were laced with smirks.

"It's simple, Charmcaster," the calm one, who also seemed to be the leader, said, "You leave and go tell your anodite friend to give herself up at the main base, or else Kellanesse kills the boy. Your choice."

"Wouldn't you rather have Sintyana back, Dius?" the witch asked innocently, as the branches disentangled themselves from Maruco and the stick fell limply at the Native American's side. "We could probably arrange a trade. I don't think anyone really wants her around."

Dius didn't respond. His stony expression said more than any words could have. Charmcaster gave a soft sigh and, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the Galvanic Mechamorph on Winston's wrist. Ship silently prayed that she would keep quiet. He shouldn't have worried. The 21-year-old wasn't stupid. She had figured out her friend's cousin's girlfriend's pet's plan in a millisecond.

"Oh, alright," she said, sighing again, "But, when the anodites win this war, don't expect them to be merciful on you, or your little girlfriends."

With that, the sorceress rose up into the sky and flew off, back in the direction of the house. Ship was pretty sure he had heard her muttering something along the lines of, "They are so going to kill me."

With her gone, Sherd immediately grabbed Kai's arms and twisted them behind her back, making the brunette squirm and gasp from the pain.

"Why did you just let her go?" Maruco demanded, glaring at the four aliens standing at the edge of the clearing, "We could have had those pesky humans, _and_ a witch at our disposal!"

"The anodite is what's important here," Kellanesse reminded him, lowering her weapon, "We'll take care of the humans, and other creatures that inhabit this wretched planet, once the mission is completed."

"Besides, she would have strangled us all in our sleep with feather ropes or something," Alina added in her child-like voice, crossing her arms on her chest, "and then they would have escaped." She slowly walked over to Maruco and put a tiny hand on his thick shoulder. The huge man looked at her and something like sympathy appeared in the young girl's features, making him smile sadly back at her. "There really were no other options."

"Quit flirting with him!" Hamil ordered his step-daughter, practically stomping his foot on the ground, "You're already promised to someone!"

"I wasn't flirting!" Alina snapped back, stepping away from her team mate, her hands balling up into fists at her sides, "And your cousin's wife's brother's friend's sister's son's brother in law is horrible! I am not marrying him!" She crossed her arms on her chest again and turned her nose up in the air in defiance.

"I thought it was his brother-in-law's son's sister's friend's brother's wife's cousin," Sherd said, still trying to stop the Native American from squirming in his arms, but to no avail.

"No, I think it's his friend's sister's brother-in-law's son's wife's brother's cousin," the larger of the two females told him, "Ugh, what was it again, Dius?"

"Would you guys knock it off?" the burliest member of the group snapped, before Dius had a chance to answer, "Point is, we've got bait for Little Red, now all we've gotta do is get it to the main base so Umolise can capture her and give her to Him."

"Him?" Kai suddenly spoke up, her curiosity getting the better of her, "Who's that?"

Everyone looked surprised that she had spoken, but their expressions soon turned to bitterness, all trace of their teasing conversation having gone. The young girl had stopped struggling, and was now regarding them all curiously. She immediately regretted her words, though. Her captors would have been easier to bear if they portrayed some small sense of humanity. It was why she had spoken up in the first place: their conversation, like several other aspects of what she had seen, had sounded almost human.

"No one knows," Dius finally said, stepping forward and putting his hands, which felt like they were covered by a fish's gills, on her shoulders. The brown-eyed girl relaxed and Sherd let her go, taking a step back. "All we know is that he'll get the job done."

Kai gulped audibly. She didn't want Gwen to die and hoped the young anodite wouldn't be so stupid as to give herself up to save them. What a ridiculous thought! Of course Gwen would do just that! It was in the nature of any Tennyson to put other's lives before his or her own, and she was no exception to that rule.

"Don't worry," the alien's soft, velvety voice coaxed, misinterpreting her gulp as fear for her own life, "If all goes according to plan, you'll be back home before the week is out. I can promise you that much."

He seemed to regret it. With these creatures, it was hard to tell, although Kai was certain she had seen the tightening in his eyes, and that his voice had dripped with sincerity. The only thing was, it made no sense! Why would he actually regret anything? Why would any of them? Unless…

_He was human._

The realization struck the girl like a bolt of lightening. This man, standing before her, he was human! Well, maybe not exactly human, but half-human, certainly. The same way Gwen was half-anodite, or Kevin was half-osmosian. What was going on here?

Dius read the realization in the teen's eyes. She knew now, knew what his mother had worked so hard at concealing from the rest of the planet. The alien's father had been human, and his mother had accidentally fallen in love with him. It was strange, but that was the way the universe worked.

He gripped her shoulders tighter again and squeezed them, trying to convey that she should keep quiet. She gave a barely discernable nod back and he turned around to the still-sulking Alina.

"Alina, take these ones back to the van," he told her, "You seem to have experience dealing with these humans. The rest of you, scour the perimeter. She might have brought back up."

Alina scowled but walked over to Winston and threw him over her shoulder as easily as Sherd had done. She then walked back over to Kai and Dius, who took a few steps back and headed to help the others, his eyes still trained on Kai for a few more moments.

As soon as he disappeared, with her free hand, Alina grabbed hold of Kai's shoulder and roughly shoved her in the direction of the van. The girl stifled another gasp of pain. She had been through so much of it in the past few hours!

"I'm sorry," Alina hissed through her teeth with a sarcastic note to her voice.

"Me too," the Native American mumbled, too low for her to hear.

* * *

Charmcaster was flying over the treetops so quickly that she would have been nothing but a huge, pink blur to anyone who happened to look up at the sky and see her. She needed to get back to the house and fast. Winston, Kai, and Ship were all in danger!

Finally, the wood-and glass cabin, which looked more like some huge hotel planted in the middle of the woods for no apparent reason, came into view. Without hesitating, the young witch settled down on the porch, where Cooper and Eunice were still feeding birds. Both of them looked up in surprise.

"Charmcaster?" the blonde girl asked as several of the birds chirped out their confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain, lovebirds," the sorceress snapped and grabbed both teens' wrists, pulling them into the house.

Inside, the three teenage heroes, plus the ex-con's possible ex-girlfriend, were all crowded around the coffee table. A closer inspection revealed that Julie was standing upstairs by the railing.

"Charmcaster?" the anodite echoed her blond friend's inquisitive tone from earlier, "What's going on?"

"Yeah, you look like you just saw a rakarus," the girl's boyfriend agreed, his obsidian eyes full of what may have been concern. The sorceress was too absorbed to notice.

"Ahem?" Sintyana snapped, crossing her arms on her chest and glaring at her old friend.

"No offence," he quickly added, throwing her an apologetic smile. Gwen rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ow!"

"Can we please get back to why Gwen's arch enemy dragged us back in here?" Cooper suggested, wrestling his wrist out of the 21-year-old's grasp.

"Ex-arch enemy," the red head corrected him and turned her gaze right back to her fellow witch, "What's going on?"

"Well, for starters," said witch started, letting go of the teens' hands and stepping further into the living room. She fixed her violet eyes up at Julie, the sneer on her face unmistakably accusing. "Does your pet always go off in the mornings, attach himself to squire's wrists and get kidnapped by vengeful rakari?"

"Something happened to Ship?" the Japanese-American cried, running down the steps. The silver-haired young woman rolled her eyes at the tennis player's cryptic translation.

"I believe I just said that," she said, annoyance seeping into her voice.

"What happened?" Ben asked, frowning in concern. Julie was in enough danger as it was without planning some secret rescue mission of her beloved pet. Which, knowing her, she was probably doing at that very moment.

"He went off in the morning, attached himself to the Forever Knights squire's wrist, and got himself kidnapped by six vengeful rakari," Charmcaster repeated slowly.

"We got that," the osmosian told her, rolling his eyes.

"I think what Ben meant was how did he end up getting kidnapped?" the hero's cousin asked, frowning herself, "And weren't you supposed to go out and get Kai and Winston?"

"Well I would have, but the aliens got there first," the witch told her defensively, spinning on her heel to glare at the young red head.

"So, six of my friends kidnapped two of your friends, plus that Galvanic Mechamorph?" the rakarus asked her, seeming genuinely impressed. "I'm surprised. We're usually not in such good shape after a battle."

"You don't sound like you particularly respect your army," the 16-year-old boy observed, "Or your race."

"Eh," the alien said with a shrug, "I don't know about you, but it's a lot more fun for me to be on the winning team." She reached into her pocket and pulled out an ID mask, slipping it on her face. There was a flash of white light, and, when it was over, in Sintyana's place, sitting there on the couch, a wicked smile on her face, was a petite, human girl. She had straight, auburn hair, held back by a black headband, dark, chocolate brown, almond-shaped eyes, and fair skin, and was wearing a dark purple, long-sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans.

"Meet Cindy Ana," she smirked, that wicked smile never leaving her dark red lips.

Everyone stared at her, and she stared back.

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Ben broke the silence, child-like frustration flooding his emerald green eyes.

"I liked your old look better," the 17-year-old muttered, earning another elbow-jab from his girlfriend and making Sintyana laugh out in delight.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Kev," she said. It was impossible to miss the young anodite's narrowed eyes and defensive posture. She looked like a tiger ready to pounce as soon as the trainer made a wrong move. "But you've already got one red head."

Her dark eyes flitted to the 16-year-old girl, who's hostile expression had turned into a surprised one, and so did Kevin's. He gave his beloved girlfriend a smile before frowning. What was she upset about now?

"It's gonna be pretty hard for Dius to recognize you in that, don't you think?" Charmcaster smirked, not missing the amusement and mockery in the alien's eyes. She didn't like it one bit.

"Who's Dius?" Eunice asked, frowning at the two beings, who were evidently having a staring contest in her friend's living room.

"Cindy's fiancée," the witch explained, the same wicked smile that had been on the alien's mouth just a moment ago appearing on hers.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! I'm sorry this one was so short! I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner, but no promises. Please review?


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Okay, so, most of you have been complaining that the last chapter didn't have enough gwevin in it. As I reread the last chapter, I realized that you people are right! I am so very sorry for this and therefore will try to correct my mistake in this chapter. Thank you, those of you who were kind enough to point this out, and if you'd like me to answer your review, please leave an email address. This is directed at all the anonymous reviewers, but especially brett. You left a review that I'd really like to answer myself. Especially since it's kinda a flame, and it is so rare to get those. :)

Also, I'm gonna try to accommodate starfire-sakura-katarafan's request and try to write a little more about the younger kids' adventures. Glad you liked the story!

* * *

"Her what?" Kevin broke the silence that had settled over the group. His tone was little more than vague amusement mixed with surprise. The 17-year-old's girlfriend looked at him in surprise. However she had expected him to react to the news, it certainly wasn't this.

Cindy's eyes widened and flickered to her old friend for a moment, before going back to glaring at Charmcaster. She was just as astonished as the red head, but didn't let her reaction show for more than a second. Instead, she very nearly growled, "My fiancé." The witch's smirk deepened.

The osmosian laughed once.

"Tell the guy 'good luck' for me," he said. It still took the teen a moment to realize his girlfriend was staring – no, gaping, – at him. "What?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you upstairs," she answered, her green eyes narrowing slightly.

"Sure," he answered with a shrug and got out of his seat, following the girl upstairs, shooting a confused look back at his best friend, who gave a wild, just as confused shrug back.

Once the raven-haired osmosian had closed the door after him, he turned back around to see the young anodite standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed on her chest, a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his own expression quickly forming into a frown. He didn't like it when Gwen was upset. When she wasn't happy, he wasn't happy. That was the way things worked. And the obsidian-eyed teen could see it in the girl's doubtful eyes that whatever was wrong had upset his beloved girlfriend very much indeed.

"This… thing with you and Sintyana," she started, the frown morphing into concern and angst, "I don't get it." The phrasing wasn't the best, but it was direct enough. And Gwen Tennyson was nothing if not direct. She never skirted around any issues. Still cautious, the 16-year-old relaxed slightly from her defensive posture and instead leaned back against the bed. With a small sigh of relief, Kevin relaxed, too.

"Okay, first of all?" he started, a small glint of humour visible in his obsidian eyes, "There is no thing between me and Sintyana."

He stepped further into the room, closer to Gwen.

"Yes, there is," the girl argued, "You guys were friends, way back when we were kids. She means something to you. Don't deny it, Kev."

There was no mistaking the sadness in both her voice and her expression, and that was what astounded him. Oh, she was good at pretending these things didn't bother her. But sometimes, like with Jennifer Nocturne, they just got through all the barriers and he saw the side of Gwen that was better left unprovoked unless you wanted to end up in the hospital. But this was different. Usually, she would have been mad, angry, furious. This time, she was just sad. And that said more to Kevin about the situation than if she would have literally torn the whole house apart in a rampage.

In one move, he had crossed the two feet in between them, cupped Gwen's face in his two large, calloused hands and roughly pressed his lips against hers. She responded quickly, kissing him back furiously, her mouth parting to give him access. His hands left her face to slide down to her back and she arched into his body, her own arms wrapping around his neck, trying to get as close as she could to the man she loved, and who she knew loved her. In that one simple kiss, she could feel it. Just like from the tone of her voice and the guarded look in her eyes, Kevin could tell how upset she was, in that kiss, Gwen could tell that she meant the world to him. That he didn't care about Sintyana. That he only wanted her and that he wanted her to be happy. That he loved her.

It wasn't until Kevin accidentally backed her into the foot of the bed and made them both topple into it that they broke apart. Panting, Kevin rolled off her and they both lay on their sides, his arm still wrapped protectively around her waist, pulling her close.

"That answer your question?" he asked, that same hint of amusement in his tone that had been in his eyes when they were downstairs in his voice. She merely chuckled next to him, snuggling closer, burying her face in his chest.

"I never asked anything," the red haired girl pointed out, her voice muffled against the soft fabric of the teen's T-shirt.

"Good point," he muttered back, mentally cursing at himself.

"But really," she murmured softly, as Kevin shifted so that he could stare at the ceiling and stroke her flame red hair absentmindedly, "What's going on with you and her? Every time you guys are in the same room, it's like you can't not talk to her."

"You want me to ignore the one person – alien, whatever – that could get those creeps that have been chasing us and want you and every other anodite in the universe dead, off the planet?" the 17-year-old asked incredulously.

"No, not ignore her," Gwen said, frowning in annoyance at the reminder, "I just meant that you guys have a sort of connection that's kind of hard to miss."

"Alright, a) she's the one who starts all the talking," the osmosian started, tone a little defensive, "I just do my best to get her to slip up and give us something and ward off her hitting on me. Ow!" The anodite had jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow, which was very difficult to do indeed. Hard. But the 17-year-old went on as if without interruption. "And b) what's the point of talking about this anyway? I'm going out with the hottest girl in the universe, and Sinty's engaged. Yeah, rakari don't marry for love, but still."

"Wait, what?" This piece of information caused the girl to be more than a little taken aback, as well as shoot up into a sitting position on the bed. "What do you mean, rakari don't marry for love?"

"I mean, the parents just pick some random family who lives down the street that they can actually stand to be around, and then they throw a big wedding for the kids," Kevin answered, sitting up on his elbows and shrugging his shoulders as if though this was no big deal.

"So that's why you weren't upset about Sintyana marrying," the red head concluded, her eyebrows once again furrowing in thought, "Because you knew she wasn't marrying for love, right?"

"Um…no?" he tried, not sure what it was exactly, that the girl staring at him so accusingly wanted to hear.

"Then why weren't you more surprised?" she demanded.

"Because she's the right age, a good fighter, and her dad's one of the officers in charge at the main base," he explained, "It makes sense."

"It makes sense for a girl's parents to force her into marrying someone she doesn't love?" the 16-year-old inquired, her eyebrows rising sceptically, questioning her boyfriend's morality.

"If you're a rakarus, yeah, it does," he nearly snapped back, "That's how it works."

"That is not right," she declared, shaking her head, slightly dazed. Gwen, of course, being the honours student that she was, knew that the same principal applied to some countries on Earth, too, but it still didn't feel right.

"Tell you what," the osmosian said, sarcasm dripping sarcasm, "After we save the world from these morons, who want to kill you, by the way, you can go to their planet and sue their government."

The red head rolled her emerald green eyes and stood up from the bed, starting to pace around the room.

"This planet is full of people who hate each other," he told her, "No wonder she's acting this way. I'm probably the only friend she's ever had in the entire universe!"

"Not helping, Kev," Gwen nearly ground out through her teeth, hands balling up into fists at her sides, "And it's not just her, is it? A whole planet of people being forced to be with people they don't care about!"

With an exasperated sigh, the 17-year-old climbed off the bed and stood in her path, grabbing the girl's wrists right before she nearly slammed right into him.

"Look, Gwen, I'm serious," he told her, such earnest filling his coal-black eyes that it was impossible for her to doubt him for even a moment, "One problem at a time. After we get these creeps off our planet, and as far away from you as possible, we can send the Plumbers to see what they can do about the issues back on Rakarium."

A small smile crept up onto Gwen's face and she stretched up on tiptoes to press her lips lightly to his once again. Only, what she had intended to be just a quick peck on the lips, turned into a full-on make out session.

* * *

Downstairs, the teens were all sitting just as they were before, all frowning at some point or another. Charmcaster was the only one who stood patiently leaning against the kitchen counter, a slight smirk on her face. She knew _exactly_ what was going on upstairs.

"Must be nice," Sinty scoffed, glaring at the silver-haired 21-year-old, "to be able to spy on people everywhere with just the aid of magic."

"It is," the witch assured her, nodding once to confirm it.

"Don't get too jealous," Ben told her, shaking his head once, "Gwen's about ten times as powerful as her!"

"Is she?" the rakarus mused, "Interesting…"

"Don't give her any ideas, you idiot!" Charmcater snapped, glaring at her new friend's cousin. The brunette teen waved her away simply and then turned back to Sintyana.

"So, who's the guy, anyway?" he asked, frowning at her slightly.

"Does it matter?" the alien shot back, curling up into a tiny ball on the couch, glaring at nothing in particular.

"Sorry I asked," the green-eyed boy said, his frown deepening.

"Maybe you oughtta be a little more concerned about your cousin's safety than other people's love lives," she snapped.

"She's right about that," Cooper admitted, "What's the plan, Ben?"

Everyone turned to the wielder of the Ultimaterix expectantly, but before he could get out a single word, an animal-like snarl erupted from the sorceress's mouth, her eyes filling with rage.

"Charmcaster?" Julie said softly, frowning at the girl, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," the 21-year-old growled and turned on her heel to exit the house.

"Where are you going?" Eunice asked her as everyone stared at the retreating figure. The witch stopped dead in the doorway, trying to get some composure back.

"Nowhere," she finally said, still not turning around, although her voice sounded a little more like her old self, "Oh, by the way, you might want to figure something out fast, _Benji._ In case you're forgetting, your little human friends, Winston and Kai got captured about an hour ago. Along with your girlfriend's pet." And, with that, the witch soared up into the sky and flew off, no one, not even her, having any idea of where she might be heading.

There was a stunned silence in the room for several seconds, before Cindy recovered herself enough to say, "Well. I guess she heard something she didn't like."

At that moment, they all heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see a slightly sleepy Ken climbing down the steps, his red hair tussled, dressed in another light blue button-down shirt and faded blue jeans, and an equally, if not more, sleepy looking 11-year-old Ben behind him. Only when they got downstairs did the college student and fifth grader notice the dark mood everyone was in, as well as the tense silence and froze, a confused look on their faces.

"What did we miss?" Ken asked.

* * *

Back in the woods, the younger Kevin and Gwen were making slow progress. Neither one was really in much of a hurry to get back to the house, where they would have to get back to running from a bunch of sadistic aliens intent on killing the anodites. Not to mention deal with the fact that their older selves were apparently now friends with their old enemies.

"I still can't believe I'm friends with Charmcaster in the future," the 11-year-old said, glaring at the path in front of her, "I mean, what am I thinking? There is no _way_ that she is trustworthy. She tried to kill me and Ben a number of times, and tried to steal my powers! Those are _not_ good reasons for someone to be trusted!"

"I still can't believe how jealous you get when she and I make out," Kevin smirked, rolling his eyes. His statement was rewarded with a swift jab in the ribs, which momentarily knocked the wind out of him. "Jeez, you hit hard!"

"I know," the red head said, a satisfied smile on her face as she walked a few steps in front of the boy. "And I do _not_ get jealous!"

"Oh, sure you don't," the osmosian, who had gotten his breathing back under control, drawled sarcastically as he caught up to her, "And the fact that you all but ripped my head off a few days ago about it is _definitely_ proof of that."

"Oh, please," the girl scoffed, rolling her emerald green eyes, "and what would you call you beating up Cooper back at the hotel? A way of expressing your friendship?"

"No, but that was just – he said that –" the 12-year-old stopped. The teen had accused him of not caring about Gwen, and so the older version of him had beat up the tech-controlling teen. There was no way to get out of this without giving the red head exactly what she wanted, and the thing that really sucked? She knew it. She knew he cared about her, even now. He'd proved that enough over the past couple of days, and not just the older version of him.

"What?" the anodite mocked, "He said that you didn't care about me, so you beat him up. And it was pretty obvious that he liked me back at the campground. So, are you honestly trying to tell me that you're not jealous in the future? Face it, Kev. You care. Apparently enough to want to beat up some tech-manipulating teenager you barely know."

The boy didn't answer. Instead he merely trudged on back up to the house, leaving Gwen little choice but to follow him.

"Who says I don't?" he scoffed, "Maybe he's some criminal who gets locked up in the Null Void in a couple months."

"Yeah right," the young girl rolled her jade eyes sarcastically.

"And what makes you so sure that he isn't?" the 12-year-old snapped back.

"Because, a, his grandfather was a Plumber, too, and he is _way_ too childish and, well, un-Kevin-like," she said, causing him to smirk at the last statement, "and, b, it is clear that you were acting on pure primal instinct, and are now in denial." She crossed her arms on her chest, remembering the last section of chapter 18 of her mother's psychologist's book, which she'd read over the past summer.

"What?" the 12-year-old looked confused. He didn't speak therapist.

"Ugh," she groaned, face-palming herself, "You're making excuses."

"No, I'm not!" he cried indignantly, something like a spark in his brown eyes.

"And there's the denial," the anodite smiled triumphantly. The osmosian sputtered again for a few seconds before giving up all together and turning away to resume walking back to the house, not even stopping to look back at his companion and check if she was following or not. He knew she was.

"You're impossible," the raven-haired teen muttered, while she was still out of hearing range.

"Kevin!" she called, running after him.

"What?" he snapped, turning back around so abruptly the girl slammed into his body and nearly fell over again. He caught her wrists before she could send them both tumbling down and steadied her. Just like last night when they fell out from that air vent, the two kids were locked in each other's gaze, neither one of them wanting to look away, but both knowing that they should. Only this time, there was no one to disturb the moment. There were only the surrounding trees and animals and the wind blowing rustling the leaves and blowing quite roughly through the path, interrupting the peacefulness of the moment. Gwen shivered.

"I'm cold," she complained, trying to pull her wrists out of the osmosian's grasp and averting her eyes. He, however, kept his firmly locked on her, and didn't even bother to loosen his grip. After another second of this, the green-eyed girl looked back up in confusion to meet the boy's surprisingly intense gaze. He blinked once and then let her go, a smirk that was so customary of the 17-year-old version of him appearing on the 12-year-old's face. It was like the last few seconds had never happened. Boy, this guy was confusing.

"Let's get back to the house," he suggested, "Race you there?"

"Oh, you are so on," the red head agreed, flashing him a bright smile. If there was one thing Gwen Tennyson never turned down, it was a challenge. Without another word, the two kids tore through the forest in an effort to beat the other back to their campground.

* * *

Several miles away, back on a road that led straight to Bellwood, was a very unsuspecting van being driven by a large, well-muscled man. In the seat next to him sat a young woman with almond-shaped eyes and long black hair that reached down to the small of her back. She looked rather bored and very tired as she gazed at first the seemingly never ending woods that grew on both sides of the road, and then at the desert, which seemed to bore her even more than the never-changing greenery. In the back of the van, there sat three more men, one of them with a cast, one of them with long hair that was tied at the back in a pony tail, and the last with short-cropped black hair and a beard. Next to the man with the crutch sat a little blonde girl, so tiny she was practically invisible among her large, burly companions. She wore jeans, and a pink T-shirt, and a slightly miserable expression on her face.

This company would have seemed strange enough to any police man who would have bothered to pull the van over for speeding, but, at the feet of these three strange men and the little blonde lay two more figures, both of which were tied up securely with ropes. They were gagged so that neither one could say a word, and each one had nasty bruises on nearly every visible part of their body. Neither one of these figures had any idea where they were headed, and it didn't help that their captors hadn't spoken a single word over the past hour as they drove them to what would probably be their doom.

"Ugh, are we there yet?" the blonde suddenly started whining, lifting her face from her hands and directing her question at the driver of the vehicle.

"Not yet, Ali," he said through gritted teeth.

"Why do you always have to annoy everyone, girl?" the one with the cast, otherwise known as Hamil snapped at her, "We'll get there when we get there! Don't bother Marc's driving!"

"I'm not bothering anyone!" Alina snapped, her blue eyes blazing with a fire that would be hard to mistake.

"Would both of you shut up!" Dius yelled at the arguing pair, glaring at them with amber eyes. They were all just disguises, though. The aliens had put on ID masks as soon as they'd started the van.

"We're here," Kellanesse said, pointing out her window. They had arrived at the main gate to Bellwood, where they were greeted by armed guards. One of them stopped by her window to see who it was that dared disturb the city where the most important rakarus of their operation was staying.

"Halt," he said unnecessarily, "Who goes there?"

"Kellanesse Sia," she answered, removing her ID mask. The van was momentarily filled with a bright light that quickly evaporated. "I'm a part of Dius Jankitus's team."

"Oh, Kel," the man relaxed and his face contorted into something resembling a smile, "Haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?"

As the two slipped into easy chit-chat, which, at least for Kellanesse, seemed more forced than easy, Winston managed to turn his head so that he was facing Kai from where he was laying face-down on the floor of the van. He couldn't speak, but his eyes said more than words could. He was terrified. Kai gave a brief nod of acknowledgement. The two lay there for a while, wondering about their predicament. Would they die? Would they live? Would Ben save them? Would the anodites end up winning this war, or would the rakari end up killing Gwen? No, of course not. She had so many people willing to lay down their lives for her at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, the van started moving again, only this time, it was driving through the city streets. The teens could hear the commotion outside. A gunshot here, a threat being yelled out there, an explosion, a curse, a plea, a scream… all sounds that the pair knew would haunt their nightmares.

Finally, it stopped and the front doors of the van opened and the two rakari stepped out. The other four in the back followed suit. As the back doors opened and all its inhabitants that were able to walk got out, Maruco, who was truly large enough to be a professional wrestler, or, could have been, if he was human, reached in the back and grabbed each teen in one hand. The doors shutting behind the group were loud enough to muffle the quiet 'Ship!' that came from the black and green watch on Winston's wrist.

Both – or rather, all three, – were carried into what had used to be the town's jail house. As they passed the cells, it was clear that the place was still being used for the same purpose, only now it didn't house dangerous criminals. There were families huddled together in the darkest corners of their cells, teenagers, who started yelling profanities as soon as they saw the rakari, doctors, businessmen, policemen, waiters, waitresses, journalists, who were yelling out questions to the aliens, apparently still not getting how dire the situation they were in was and trying to get a front page story for their newspaper. They were all ignored.

Kellanesse opened one of the last cell doors and Maruco threw in the two teens, yanked off their restraints, and shut the door behind them. Kellanesse left as soon as the job was done, but Maruco stayed behind to taunt his two captives.

"Not so tough now, are you, little girlie?" he sneered as Kai pulled the gag out of her mouth, "Oh, and poor little Prince Charming couldn't save his Princess from the big, bad, scary-"

"Maruco!" Kellanesse suddenly yelled, her human face popping out from behind the corner in front of the bars, "Let's go! That anodite won't capture herself, you know!" She disappeared again.

"Have fun!" he laughed, wasting a few more moments in front of the cell. Suddenly, Kellanesse was beside him and dragging him away. "Oh, Kelly! I'm sorry!"

As soon as they were gone, the two teens turned to each other, now free to speak.

"What are we gonna do?" Winston asked at the same time as Kai demanded, "Where are we?" They each took a moment to see if the other would answer their question, and, when it didn't seem all that likely that Kai even knew the answer to his question, Winston shook his head and answered, "We're at the Bellwood jailhouse. This is probably where Kevin spent most of his time before teaming up with Ben and Gwen. Now, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Ship, ship," said the watch on his wrist and detached itself, only to turn moments later into the Galvanic Mechamorph.

"Ship?" Kai said in surprise, bending down so as to get a better look at the pet, "What are you doing here?"

"Ship! Ship! Ship!" he cried, jumping up and down. The teens exchanged looks.

"Any idea what he's saying?" Winston asked.

"None," Kai stated, giving her head a firm shake. Ship gave what sounded like an exasperated sigh and hurried over to the bars. The second he touched them, an electric current shocked the little thing.

"Ship!" he cried as he fell down to the floor. That was painful. Very painful. But it also didn't make sense. Ship could manipulate any technology. He _was_ technology. The bars shouldn't have shocked him!

…But they had. And it hurt.

"Ship," he whimpered as his cellmates for the time being hurried over to help. It took them barely a moment to see that he wasn't seriously hurt. The squire sighed.

"I guess we're trapped here," he declared.

* * *

"… so, now we have to go after Kai and Winston, get to that psychic girl so that we can convince her to convince everyone else to pack up their bags and go back home, and save the world as usual," the 16-year-old Ben finished telling them.

"And how exactly are we gonna do that?" Ken asked, frowning at his cousin.

"Same way we always do," the younger version of him answered, giving his shoulders a slight shrug, "Charge right in there and kick some alien butt!" He lifted his Omnitrix for everyone to see.

"No offence, Ben, but that plan doesn't usually work out that well," Eunice told him, frowning awkwardly from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Cooper agreed, "Almost always someone from our side gets hurt."

"And we don't want them taking Gwen," Julie piped up, "So what are we gonna do?"

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," the tennis player's boyfriend declared, shooting up from his seat on the couch, a smile on his face, "Julie, you go get Gwen and Kevin and tell them it's time to get moving. We're gonna need Kevin's insane driving. Eunice, get as much food as you can and load it back into the Rustbucket. Cooper, find as many weapons as you can and do the same. Little Me, go find the younger Kevin and Gwen and tell them it's time to go. Ken, you stay here and make sure Sintyana doesn't try to escape."

"Where am I gonna go?" the rakarus interrupted, rolling her eyes and glaring at him.

"…And I'm gonna go find Charmcaster and bring her back here," the teen hero declared and ran off in search of his enemy-turned-sort-of-friend, turning into Jetray as soon as he was out the door.

"Wait, Ben!" Julie called, but it was too late. He was gone. The girl sighed and turned back to the room to find everyone staring at her. "Well, you heard him," she urged, "Get a move on!"

Without further ado, everyone ran in different directions, save for Ken and Sintyana. The latter smirked as she watched the younger Ben sprint out of the house and hit the Omnitrix.

"Xlr8!" he cried, changing into Cannon Bolt. The peculiar alien looked around and huffed in frustration. "Oh man! Whoa, whoa!" He instantly fell on his back, sprawling out like a bug.

"And that kid grows up to be the saviour of the entire universe?" the rakarus mused, an amused smirk on her face, "The criminals here must really suck at being bad."

"Yeah, either that, or Ben's a lot better than he appears," Ken agreed, watching as the extremely childish version of his cousin rolled away, smashing several trees in his wake.

It took three hours exactly for everyone to assemble in the still completely trashed living room. The older Ben had found Charmcaster with little effort. She hadn't bothered to go further than the trees just outside, and laughed herself right out of the branches when the alien flew right past her nose and didn't even notice.

Julie had spent the better part of two hours knocking on Kevin and Gwen's room. Finally, Kevin got mad at whoever it was behind the door, assuming it was Ben, and swore he'd kick the guy's butt back to Bellwood. The door had swung open to reveal the red-faced osmosian, ready to yell his head off, but stopped right before the first word came out.

"Ben says it's time to go," Julie informed them and turned on her heel, her message delivered, before turning back to the bedroom and smiling at her friend, "By the way, Gwen, nice outfit."

The teenage anodite was wearing her Lucky Girl costume, a result of the bet she'd made and lost with Kevin, and was feeling none too happy about it.

"Thanks, Julie," she drawled sarcastically and glared at her boyfriend once she heard him chuckle a foot away. The 16-year-old pushed past him and accidentally sent him flying across the room, falling with his back against the closet door.

"Ow," Kevin muttered.

The younger Gwen and Kevin had arrived about five minutes after the announcement had been made.

"Wow, that was fast," Ken stated, his eyes widened as he watched his sister and her future boyfriend climb in through the gapping hole in the glass door. "Where's Ben?"

"How should we know?" the 12-year-old snapped.

"He went out looking for you," the college student explained, "Isn't he with you guys?"

"No," Gwen answered, shaking her head, her eyes wide. What mess had her moron of a cousin gotten into now?

"So, you're telling me that a little 11-year-old boy who's changed into an alien that looks like a cross between a yellow Pokemon ball and a big white blob is out there smashing and tearing down trees for no reason whatsoever?" Sinty asked, her face alive with amusement, "Ha! Priceless…"

"We've gotta go find him," the red head announced in a worried voice. The osmosian grasped her forearm before she made it to the door. She turned her angry gaze on the restraining hand, before lifting her head to meet the boy's dark eyes.

"Or we could stay here, watch TV, and wait for your cousin to show up-"

"But what if the Omnitrix times out?"

"- and not take the chance of getting you killed," Kevin finished, his hand tightening its hold on the girl's arm as she struggled. Finally she stopped, her eyes hard.

"You certainly didn't seem to have any problem with that when I chased you out of the house," the anodite reminded him.

"Yeah, but I was running to _save myself_," he emphasized, a cocky smirk making an appearance on his pale face, "Self preservation comes first, you know."

"You have got to be kidding," the pair heard Sintyana mutter. He was falling for her _already_? What was it about this Tennyson girl that made everyone want to save her? She wasn't even Kevin's type! She was a bookworm who spent most of her time at the library or learning spells, and didn't know a thing about cars. Sinty had had to learn about a bunch of equipment just to get him to look at her, and this energy being just fluttered her eyelashes and he was wrapped around her little, ugly, easy-to-rip-right-off-her-hand finger? How in the universe was that fair?

"Ugh, fine," the green-eyed girl surrendered, and her hand fell back down to her side.

Now, finally, everyone was here and the RV was packed full of food and machinery. Cooper had decided to check all systems just in case the rakari had damaged something in the attack, and Eunice was outside, acting as his assistant, having a bear and a bird stand by, just in case Cooper needed her to lift something or fly somewhere to check something out. All they had to do was to wait for the younger Ben to finally show up.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sinty complained.

"The Omnitrix probably timed out about an hour ago," the older Gwen guessed, frowning, "So it's probably also recharged by now-"

"Which means the little twerp should be coming around in a few minutes," the raven-haired teen finished. He was sitting on the arm chair in a relaxed manner, while she reclined on the arm of the partly ruined chair. Bits of stuffing littered the floor at the anodite's feet.

"Hmm," the rakarus hummed, rocking back and forth on her couch absentmindedly, "What could we do in a few minutes? I know! Let's play Truth or Truth! I've got one for Little Red Ridinghood over there: why are you wearing a black cat costume?"

"It's her Lucky Girl costume," the younger Gwen answered, irritated, before lifting her eyes back up to meet her older self's jade gaze, "I can't believe I kept that thing."

"I had it altered," the 16-year-old girl answered with a shrug, "just in case I ever ran into Charmcaster again."

"And, when she did, she didn't even need the outfit," the silver-haired witch smirked. She was leaning against the wall, which suddenly gave out and small wooden planks fell in a heap on the forest floor just outside.

"Oops," the sorceress breathed, her violet eyes wide as everyone stared at her, "Um, Kevin-?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll fix it later," the dark-eyed teen snapped. He was the only one who kept glaring at a spot just on top of what had used to be a fireplace, but was now merely a pile of rubble, not even bothering to look what damage had been caused to his father's house this time. The spot on the wall where Charmcaster had been leaning against had been hit by the rakari's lasers multiple times, therefore weakening the construction material. The older Gwen squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. She knew how much this place meant to him

"Hello!" Sintyana whined, "You still haven't answered my question!"

"I lost a bet," the 16-year-old huffed, pouting and crossing her arms on her chest. The osmosian beside her chuckled. The room went quiet for about two seconds before Ben burst out laughing.

"You made a bet with Kevin?" he managed to get out, hands on his knees, holding him up for support as the laughter fit took over. "It's like you're _asking_ to lose!" The raven-haired 17-year-old smirked. For once, the idiot was right.

"Ugh," the immature teen's cousin groaned, and turned to the younger version of herself, "Piece of advice for the future: never make a bet with Kevin Levin."

"I'm pretty sure we all got that by now," the younger version of said teen smirked.

"We all got what by now?" Cooper's voice came from the kitchen as he and Eunice stepped back inside.

"To never bet Kevin," Julie answered. She was leaning with her back against a pillar, her lips quirked up in a small smile. "Apparently Gwen forgot that little detail about her bo-"

Suddenly, the tennis player's own boyfriend was overcome with a coughing fit to replace his laughing fit.

"Julie!" he hissed, voice low.

"Oh, right!" the Asian-American cried, mentally face-palming herself. How could she be so forgetful! It definitely wasn't in the young girl's nature. She had straight As, which could very well be attributed to her excellent note-taking skills, but was also largely aided by her very good memory. Why did it have to start failing now?

"What-?" before the 12-year-old Kevin could finish his question, though, a blue and black blur sped into the room, stopping right before him and taking the form of Xlr8. Three beeps sounded before the alien turned back into an 11-year-old brunette boy with green eyes and a smug expression on his face.

"Right on time," he smirked, strolling around the room and propping himself up against the armrest of Sinty's couch. "Oh, and I couldn't find Kevin and Gwen."

"We're right here, doofus," the little red head nearly growled at her cousin. The two kids were standing not two feet away, eyes narrowed at the newcomer.

"Ha!" the older osmosian cried, "Doofus… Never get tired of that!"

The two older Tennyson's narrowed their eyes at him. The teen's girlfriend promptly hit him on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"And I never get tired of that," the younger Ben declared. His expression, if possible, turned even more smug…

…before getting hit in the back of his head by his cousin.

"Hey!" the boy exclaimed, turning around to see the smirk on the girl's face and her future boyfriend trying desperately not to burst into laughter and failing miserably. "Watch it!"  
"And now, if both Gwens are done hitting people," Eunice said awkwardly, as if she was afraid the two anodites would round up on her, "I made cookies and Cooper's got the RV running. Who's ready to go back to Bellwood?" The last sentence was said with such forced enthusiasm that nearly everyone had to hide a smile.

"Well, I sure am," Sinty declared, standing up and popping her joints, "Sitting on that couch is seriously boring!"

"Uhuh," the 17-year-old osmosian said as they all followed Cooper and Eunice outside to the RV, "'Cause that's why you wanna get there so bad."

The rakarus chuckled.

"You get what you want, Kev, and I get what I want," she told him, looking back over her shoulder at his mammoth frame, "Everyone goes home happy."

"Yeah right," the 16-year-old Ben snorted.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was bored. The journey was uneventful, and so far the most exciting thing that anyone had done was eat. Eunice was sitting in the front seat next to Cooper, while the two Bens were in the kitchen along with Julie and Sintyana, and the others were all cooped up in the living room area, staring at the TV screen, which was showing the news, again. Everyone cringed at the images of smoke, fire, and rakari with laser guns that appeared on screen, but no one reached for the remote. They had to make sure their loved ones were alright.

"Maybe Kevin should drive," the older Ben suggested for the one hundredth time, "He'd probably get us there faster."

"For the millionth time, Ben," Cooper said through gritted teeth, hands tightening on the steering wheel, "I'm going as fast as I can. I highly doubt Kevin could go any faster than 200 miles per hour, considering this thing can't go any faster."

"He probably could," Sintyana smirked. Cooper shot her a dirty look in the rearview mirror. Eunice put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Yeah," the younger Ben agreed, sipping the wheatgrass and shrimp smoothie Julie made him, "By the way, what happened to get Kevin so interested in cars, anyway?"

"You gotta make a living somehow, kid," the older osmosian called from the living room, his eyes never wavering from the TV.

"He made his by selling alien tech," the older Ben elaborated with a shrug, turning to smirk at his best friend, "Not to mention, he's probably already got a tool box full of stuff stashed under a rock at the Null Void back in your time, right, Kev?"

The 12-year-old turned around and glared at him briefly, before turning back around. The Ultimaterix-wielder decided to take this as a yes, smiled, and turned back to his sausage and tomato smoothie. Beside him, Julie gave a soft sigh as she played with the remnants of her cookie.

"It must've been really hard for him," she said, lowering her voice to what she thought was a volume that neither of the osmosians could hear, "Growing up in the Null Void and all."

"Well, yeah, but think about it," the Japanese-American's boyfriend coaxed, his eyes softening. It was so like Julie to be concerned about her friends for a completely different reason than the one that was prominent at that very moment. "When he gets out of there, he turns good, fights bad guys along with us, and gets together with Gwen! Not to mention the awesome car!"

"He WHAT?" the younger Ben exclaimed, shooting up from his seat at the table. All eyes in the van turned to him, except for Cooper's, who peered at him in the rearview mirror again.

"Oops," the older teenager's eyes widened as he realized what he'd just done. He'd forgotten the kid was even there!

Julie's hand immediately covered the boy's mouth and both she and the 16-year-old Ben stood up. He promptly grabbed the 11-year-old around the waist, replacing his girlfriend's hand with his own, and half dragged, half carried the protesting brunette to one of the overly large bedrooms while the other passengers watched with surprised expressions.

"We'll be back in a moment," the 16-year-old promised and shut the door.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh?" Sintyana chuckled, her dark eyes gleaming.

"What was that?" the younger Gwen asked. She was sitting on the floor on one side of the coffee table, while the 12-year-old sat on the other. The older them were occupying the couch.

"It's Ben," the teenage anodite answered with a sigh, pressing two fingers against her temples as if she were getting a headache.

"Who knows?" the 17-year-old finished for her, eyes softening as he took in the sight of his girlfriend in what appeared to be pain.

"You okay?" he asked her. She looked at him through a curtain of flame red hair, before pushing it back behind one ear, and nodded.

"Your cousin's stupidity has reached a new level," the younger osmosian announced, smirking at the little red head across the table, "Now it has the ability to cause you headaches."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short, especially after such a long wait! I'll try and update faster this time! Hope you guys liked it, though! :D


	25. Chapter 25

"Hmm mm hm!" the younger Ben squealed as he was dragged, protesting vehemently, by his older self into the boy's bedroom. Julie shot the rest of the group an apologetic, yet at the same time, pleading, look before closing the door after them. The teen dropped the 11-year-old on the nearest bunk, and stepped back as the boy sputtered and coughed for a moment.

"_Kevin and Gwen?_" he screeched in an insanely high pitch when the coughing fit had passed, "What-? Where-? How-?"

"Kevin and Gwen," his older self answered patiently, listing the answers to the questions in the order they'd been half-asked, "in Bellwood, Kevin joined us, and, after several months of battling DNAliens and Hybrids, he finally got the nerve to ask Gwen out."

"Wh- why?" the younger Ben finally got out, in a more or less normal tone of voice. He'd gotten himself under control while the older him was speaking. He'd noticed – _of course _he had, – how close Kevin and Gwen were in the future. In the far corner of his mind, the idea of his cousin possibly, maybe somehow having romantic feelings for the osmosian had occurred to the kid, but he'd denied it too quickly for the idea to ever truly take root. It shouldn't have been possible. Gwen was his dweeb of a cousin, who always got straight As, was always perfect in every way, had money, magic powers, and a pretty much perfect life altogether. Kevin was a convict who belonged in the Null Void, an idiot who cared about no one but himself, and valued money and power above all else. It didn't make sense. They didn't make sense. There shouldn't have even been a 'them'!

But there was. He'd just been too much of an idiot to notice it. Now memories, little things over the past couple of days, popped out, suddenly, in a much clearer light. The brief look the two had shared when they'd spilled out of the air vent, her on top of him. The concerned look on the 16-year-old Gwen's face when Kevin's house had gotten destroyed. The way they both always seemed to get angry – or rather, jealous, as he realized now, – whenever talk of an old flame, or Cooper, arose. The way they always seemed to be close together, always near each other. The older him had once even said that Kevin would rather die than let anything happen to Gwen! And, of course, the look in the osmosian's eyes whenever one of those idiot rakari almost hurt her. Yes, against all odds, his over-achieving relative was dating his worst enemy turned best friend. The green-eyed boy could see it very clearly now. And he didn't like it one bit.

"Well, I guess it's got something to do with her anodite heritage or something," the older Ben shrugged, "Grandma Verdona did say Kevin's a lot like Grandpa Max when he was 17."

"How?" the bearer of the Omnitrix asked, tuning back into the conversation, "Was Grandpa ever trapped in the Null Void?"

"Well, yeah-"

"What?"

"Ben!" Julie piped up, unable to believe how ridiculously dumb her boyfriend was acting. Couldn't he see the kid had had enough shock for one day?

"-but that was last year," the teen hurried to correct himself, "He got sent there by accident, Animo took over, and he stayed for a while to get the place back under control. Grandpa Max would never do anything bad enough to end up in the Null Void!"

The brunette boy opened his mouth, ready to start asking more questions, but then closed it again and shook his head. Grandpa Max was safe. He'd seen it with his own eyes. The matter of Kevin and Gwen, though, still needed dealing with.

"Whatever," the boy finally muttered, "but back to Gwen and Kevin. It doesn't make sense! How can those two be together? They hate each other!"

"I don't think so," Julie interjected, "If you ask me, Gwen and Kevin are already falling for each other."

"What?" this time, it was both Bens who asked the question for what seemed like the millionth time in the past few minutes.

"Well, think about it," she continued, "How many times have those two been alone together on this trip? Three, four? Not to mention, even as a kid, he was pretty cute."

"Hey!" the older Ben exclaimed indignantly, glaring at his girlfriend. She threw him a playful smile. As usual, she was teasing him.

"I know my cousin," the younger Ben cut in, taking no notice of his older self's anger that his girlfriend had just called his best friend cute, "She doesn't go for the bad guys. She's told us all, like, fifty times that whoever she ends up with, he's gonna be smart, and I'm pretty sure Kevin" – he shuddered at the name, – "doesn't fall into that category."

"You'd be surprised," the green-eyed teen smirked. He knew full well that Kevin was just shy of being a genius. At least according to Gwen and whatever tests she'd said he'd have to do in order to get back into high school.

"Look, Ben," Julie decided to take matters into her own hands before her idiot of a boyfriend completely screwed this whole thing up. She knelt down next to the bunk he was sitting on so she could look at him more closely. "I know this is hard for you, but you've gotta understand. Kevin and Gwen are together, and for the time being, I don't see that changing. Believe it or not, he really cares about her."

"Yeah, sure he does," the boy scoffed, "Or else he's just using her to get to me. Did any of you ever think of that? What if the whole thing's just a game? A con to get you to believe he's one of the good guys, then steal the Omnitrix, or whatever you now call the watch, and run off and break Gwen's heart?"

"I thought of that, too, at first," the older Ben admitted. He said the words slowly, like he wasn't sure how to phrase what it was he wanted to say. He was scared of it coming out wrong and making it sound like he didn't trust one of the few people he trusted with his life. "I considered it for a while, but then I remembered; Kevin's not the type of guy to make elaborate schemes that take an extremely long time. You've seen him fight. He goes head to head, not dodging hits and waiting to strike at the opportune moment. If he was after the Ultimatrix, he would have stolen it by now. Or tried to, anyway." The green-eyed teen scoffed at the possibility that the teen might actually succeed at the endeavor.

The boy narrowed his eyes as he regarded the teen. He was right, but it was still hard to believe that, after five years of being cooped p in the Null Void, Kevin would come out and suddenly be good. Unless what they said about jail changing a man was true, which the kid highly doubted. He'd seen the ex-cons on TV. They almost never turned good after getting out. Plus, he remembered what Gwen had told him about that time she was stuck in Charmcaster's body at Juvy. About how those girls had said they'd 'needed to make up for lost time'. He couldn't help but believe that Kevin would turn out the same way. Finally, though, he gave in and cracked under the stares of his future self and his girlfriend's scrutiny.

"Fine, I guess you're right," with a heavy sigh, the younger Ben pushed himself off the bunk and started heading for the door. He stopped halfway, though, and turned back to the pair. "But I still don't trust him."

"No one's asking you to," the older Ben answered with a smile, "At least, not for another four years."

The boy gave a brisk nod and turned back to the door, when he was stopped once more. This time, by Julie.

"Wait, Ben," she called, quickly. The boy turned around once more, a frown on his face. "It'd probably be best if you don't tell this to anyone, okay? Ben wasn't exactly supposed to say anything." The last part she said with narrowed eyes and an elbow-jab into the teen's stomach.

"Ow!" he cried while the younger him ignored the exchange, and rolled his eyes.

"Who am I gonna tell?" he asked rhetorically, "Dweeb would probably have a heart attack if she found out." The boy turned away once again, and, all of a sudden, froze. He couldn't believe those words had just left his mouth. For all the insults, and teasing, he really did care about his cousin, and was shocked to find that, once again, in that deep, deep corner of his mind, he hoped that his older self was right. Not for the sake of the universe and what Eleven could do to it, but for the sake of his cousin. He hoped the osmosian really was good now, if only to spare his cousin a broken heart.

* * *

Back in the living room area, everyone's eyes were still glued to the television screen. The news reports were showing burning buildings, rakari holding hostages at gunpoint and guiding them into vans, while local policemen were doing their best to stop them. Unfortunately, the most they could do was shoot. The bullets thudded harmlessly against the rakari's armor and fell to the ground.

"News reports indicate that the Plumbers have arrived," Will Harangue's voice announced on the TV screen, "And this time, they are ready to protect a little more than just Gwen Tennyson's loved ones. Or so, we hope." The footage then cut to a Plumber's ship landing in the middle of a rakari-filled street and about ten Plumbers charging out, blasting anything with scales. "Hopefully, the reinforcements will chase away these monsters, and we can all get on with our lives. Or, at least, that's what these Plumbers, these _aliens_ are telling us. How do we know if we can trust them? The citizens of Bellwood, as well as the rest of the world, are relying on blind hope to get them out of this most dire of situations. These rakari are pure evil, the very embodiment of what every alien is: a menace to our world. And-"

Suddenly, there was a crash in the background. The cameras turned away from Will Harangue to the exit. The door had been kicked in and, in its place was a rakarus holding a laser gun.

"Menaces are we?" he smirked, stepping further into the room, gun pointed at a frightened Will Harangue. "Well, then, how about I show you just how terrible we really are."

The screen went black, and the room's occupants were frozen. The older Kevin scoffed.

"Serves him right," he muttered, pressing a button on the remote to switch the channel. It was another news network. An older woman, approximately in her forties, was standing in the middle of a hospital, announcing how many injured there truly were.

"How do they even get these camera crews in there?" the younger Kevin asked, frowning as he watched the screen, "What, do they disguise themselves as rakari, or something?"

"More often than not, some Plumbers infiltrate one of the buildings we're holding, and then slowly back us out," Sintyana explained. She'd come over to stand behind the couch and watch the news with everyone else once the Bens and Julie had left. "That's how they got the hospital back."

"Wasn't it one of your main bases?" the younger Gwen asked, frowning at the screen. The woman was now interviewing several of the patients about their attacks.

"Not exactly," Sintyana told her, temporarily forgetting who she was talking to, "But it was one of the buildings we'd thoroughly secured. Then, when you two twerps and your idiot grandpa broke in, I'm guessing the Plumbers charged in, head-on, both in the hospital and at the warehouse and over-powered the others."

The woman on the screen was walking down the corridor again, past several sick patients. The cameras focused on a woman in a hospital bed, with a little boy in her arms, crying, a teenager, passed out on his cot, with a black eye and a bloody gash on his hand, a baby, her older sister, who couldn't have been more than eight, sitting at the child's side, chin propped up on her fists, staring at the baby's crying face, and finally stopped at a cot with a balding, middle-aged an lying on it. He had a broken leg propped up in a cast, his wife, with black hair, jeans, and a black sweater, was sitting next to him, her face hidden in her hands. The younger Kevin did a sharp intake of breath, while the older one gasped.

"Is that…?" the 12-year-old trailed off. His dark brown eyes were hard, filled with just barely restrained fury.

"…Harvey?" the teen finished for him.

"Turn it up," the older Gwen ordered. Her boyfriend pressed the volume button, and the woman's voice got clearer.

"And here we have Mr. Harvey Hackett and his ex-wife, Evelyn Levin, mother of well-known Plumber, and best friend of Ben Tennyson, Kevin Levin. Tell us, Mr. Hackett, how did this mishap occur to you?"

"How do you think this happened?" Harvey all but roared into the microphone, "There's freaking aliens running around shooting everything in sight outside my doorstep! It's a miracle I didn't get killed!"

"Yes, and we're all very thrilled about that," the reporter said softly, trying to still the turmoil she could see in the man's eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, the 11-year-old girl saw the corner of the younger osmosian's mouth quirk up into a small half-smile. "What is your opinion on the matter of Gwen Tennyson? Should she give herself up and let all this mayhem end, saving the lives of possibly millions, or, should the Plumbers continue to wage war on these reckless beings, keeping safe and hidden the only true reason they are on this planet in the first place?"

"Well, when you say it like that, the right answer's obvious," Charmcaster muttered, reclining back on the couch as well as she could, squashed as she was between Ken and the armrest.

"No, I do not think she should give herself up! Give me that!" Harvey exclaimed again, this time grabbing hold of the microphone once it was put near his mouth so he could talk. "Kevin, if you're watching this, and right now, I pray to God you are, don't listen to any of the crap these people are saying here. Get that girl as far from here as possible, and keep her safe." The old man's eyes softened slightly. "Although, judging by the fact that you've got a truck-load of monsters on your tail, and none of them have caught her yet, you seem to be doing that just fine. Don't give up. Your mother and I are so proud of you…son."

The raven-haired woman then leaned in so she could add a few more words to her husband's speech. "Yes, honey," she said in a soft voice, her tear-stained face smiling, "we really are."

_CRASH!_

Something large and heavy hit the television screen, cracking it, before thudding to the floor, effectively ending their TV time. Startled, everyone turned to stare at the 12-year-old osmosian, who was now standing, literally shaking with rage.

"Kevin," the younger anodite said softly, "what's-?"

"He's not my father," the boy ground out, still turned away from everyone else, blinking back tears, "He's not my father!"

At that moment, the door to the bedroom opened, and Julie and the two Bens stepped out. The dark boy brushed past them and hurried into the now vacant room, leaving behind several bewildered stares.

"What happened?" Julie asked, turning to the rest of the room's occupants. Her eyes landed on the broken TV screen and her face pulled down into a frown.

"It's Kevin," the tennis-player's boyfriend answered with a shrug, "Something always happens."

"Harvey's in the hospital," Ken answered the girl, ignoring his cousin. He didn't know much about Kevin, or his family, but from the news segment, he'd gathered that almost everyone else in the room had some idea about the man. Plus, the reporter had helpfully identified the couple at the start of the interview.

"Is he alright?" This news seemed to get Ben's attention. The older one's, anyway.

"Who's Harvey?" the 11-year-old asked.

"My step-dad," the remaining Kevin answered, a hard look in his eyes. The osmosian's girlfriend placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, which he promptly shook off. She startled slightly. Well, that was uncharacteristic. He then turned to catch Cooper's eye in the rearview mirror. "And, yeah, he'll be fine. Coop, get out of the driver's seat. My turn."

The blond teen started getting up, but was stopped by a small hand on his wrist.

"No," Eunice said softly, but still firmly, "He's gonna turn us around and take us somewhere else, far from Bellwood, and away from any chance of ever seeing your home again, just like his dad told him to, aren't you, Kevin?" The blonde turned back to her friend, green eyes narrowed in skepticism.

"No," the 17-year-old announced in a voice that no one dared argue with, "My mom's in the hospital, and these creeps are getting closer and closer to capturing us by the second. If we don't go now, not only are they gonna capture Gwen, but hurt and kill everyone else I care about!"

"Not to mention, you promised me," Sintyana reminded him. She was ignored.

There was a moment's hesitation, before Cooper finally relinquished the wheel into the osmosian's more than capable hands. He and Eunice went to join the others, while Kevin and Gwen took their seats at the front. The younger Gwen stood up and looked back at the bedroom door.

"I'm gonna go see if he's okay…" she trailed off, already halfway to the room, when, suddenly, a hand wrapped around her upper arm.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Gwen," the younger Ben said cautiously, still holding on firmly to his cousin's arm. "Maybe we should let him calm down. He just needs to be alone for now."

With a sigh, the younger green-eyed girl tugged her arm effortlessly out of her cousin's grasp. "No offense, Ben," she said, hand poised on the handle, ready to open the door, "but I think that's the last thing he needs right now."

"Déjà vu," the older Ben muttered with a smirk as the door closed behind the 11-year-old version of his cousin.

"Wow, I'm surprised you even know what that means," Ken grinned at his cousin.

"Hey, that's what you get when both your girlfriend and your cousin are straight-A students," the bearer of the Ultimatrix smiled proudly, wrapping an arm around Julie's waist.

"You learn French?" Eunice laughed.

"That's French?" the older Ben asked, a shocked look on his face making everyone in the room either try and hold in their laughter, or roll their eyes at the moron. Julie hid her face in Ben's chest, trying to hold in her giggles, while simultaneously rolling her eyes.

"Duh," the younger Ben was more than a bit frustrated with how dumb he appeared to be in the future. "Even I knew that." The sparkle in the brunette teen's eyes as he grinned down at his girlfriend told the kid that he did too. For some incomprehensible reason, he just pretended to be an idiot to get Julie to laugh. How dumb was that?

"So much for me and Gwen rubbing off on you," the Japanese American grinned up at her boyfriend, still tucked safely under his arm.

"Yeah…" the teen drawled, trying to get off the subject faster. He turned back to the ruined TV set and then to the blonde tech-controlling teen. "Hey, Coop, can you fix the TV?"

"Sorry, Ben," Cooper answered, his face set in a frown, "I can only manipulate tech, and, as you probably already know, glass, or plastic, or whatever that screen is made of, isn't tech."

"I can fix it," Charmcaster, who had been excruciatingly quiet up until that point, waved her hand in the air once, sending pink manna in the direction of the TV. Little pink sparkles covered the cracks and, after a few moments, disappeared, revealing a good-as-new TV screen. Charmcaster picked up the remote and smiled. "Now, let's see if there's something good on."

"Ugh, terrific," Sintyana stood up from where she'd crouched down behind the couch to hide from the wrath of the younger Kevin. "But this time, can we please watch something that won't make us wanna kill ourselves?"

* * *

At the front of the RV, the older anodite was peering over the back of her seat at her compatriots, watching to see if something bad, like a fight threatening to break out, or Ben telling the younger Ben that she and Kevin were going out in the future, would happen. Man, would that be the world's biggest catastrophe, or what? She turned back to the road ahead, catching, just out of the corner of her eye, exactly how tense the osmosian sitting next to her was.

"Kevin," the 16-year-old Gwen said tentatively, turning around in her seat so as to get a better look at him. She assumed he was still upset about the fact that Harvey was in the hospital, as well as how distraught his mother had seemed. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No," the word that hardly ever came out of the teen's mouth when regarding his beloved girlfriend, was as hard and cold as the stone that it was now so easy for him to absorb. "Right now I just wanna get to Bellwood, kick some alien butt, send the rest of those morons back to their planet, and get back to normal."

"So, you want these aliens to leave so that new ones can start invading the planet?" the red headed anodite asked, a slight glimmer of a joke in her green eyes. Kevin threw her a glare. Another uncharacteristic thing to do. "Sorry, that wasn't funny. But still, that is what normal, at least for us, is. You were right when you said that unless we do something, the rakari are gonna take over everything and hurt everyone. It's not fair that all the innocent people, not to mention, our families, have to get caught up in the middle of all this." The young woman heaved a heavy sigh and rested her forehead on her hand, which, in turn, rested on the glove compartment. Her head snapped back up when she heard the slow inhaling and exhaling of breath beside her. Or, as she referred to it as, the breathing thing. The same thing Kevin always did whenever he was disappointed in her.

"What?" the anodite cried out indignantly.

"You're not giving yourself up, Gwen," Kevin told her firmly, but with a hint of exasperation to his voice. Like they'd been having this same exact conversation over and over again, which they had, and he was sick and tired of it, which he was.

"I- I never said I was!" after a moment's sputtering, the red head declared. The truth, of course, was that that was exactly what she'd been thinking of. The idea that everyone always seemed so stubborn about pursuing just wouldn't leave her mind. The tears in Mrs. Levin's eyes had only added more to her worries of whether they were doing the right thing. She'd been ready to die at the hands of the man she loved because she couldn't fight him. She'd been ready to fight her own cousin to save his life. Now, she would give up her own life at a moment's notice if it meant keeping those she loved safe. But Kevin was just as strict when it came to keeping her safe, as she was when it came to her family and friends. Without his consent, she would never give up, and his consent was something that the osmosian would never give.

"You didn't have to," the 17-year-old stated, "You had that look on your face, the one you have whenever you're about to risk your life for the people you love."

"And how would you know?" Gwen demanded, growing annoyed at her boyfriend, "In case you'd forgotten, the Plumbers do their jobs so thoroughly, that we hardly ever have to worry about our loved ones getting hurt in battle."

"You had it when you and Ben were trying to save me," he answered quietly. The girl took a deep breath to ready herself for the oncoming conversation. "You have it every time we're fighting some alien-monster-enemy guy and he hurts Ben."

"Or you," it was the red head's turn to whisper.

"Or me," the osmosian agreed, staring firmly at the road ahead, refusing to look at his girlfriend. "Gwen, no one is letting you give up. Even Harvey agrees on that!"

"Wait." They'd reached a slightly shocking point in the conversation that the red head hadn't been expecting. "Aren't you upset or worried, or _something_ about the fact that your step-father is in the hospital?"

"Oh, that?" the raven-haired teen waved her concerns away like they were flies that were mildly bothering his driving. Not that flies would ever end up in any vehicle that Kevin Levin drove. "Harvey's a strong guy, he'll be okay. But he did have a point about taking you someplace safe…"

"No, uh-uh, we are done talking about my safety," the 16-year-old protested vehemently at the direction this conversation had taken once again. "You said that you weren't gonna take us to some other remote place out in the middle of the woods because Harvey had ended up in the hospital."

"No, I said my mom was in the hospital crying because some moron took a shot at her husband," he corrected her, "And I thought we weren't talking about your safety anymore."

"That has nothing to do with my safety, Kevin," she stated, slightly exasperated.

"It kinda does," he argued, sounding more and more like his old self by the second.

"Fine, whatever," she caved. A sudden thought just entered the young woman's mind, and a plan started forming in her head. "So, you're not worried about all the people back home? Not to mention, the rakari?"

"Nope. The Plumbers'll take care of them."

"And you're not at all worried about Harvey?"

"Nope."

"Then how about the cars we left behind, back at your house?" she suggested, a smirk on her face, "I'm pretty sure our suitcases were in the-"

Suddenly, Kevin turned the wheel like a madman. The tires screeched, he hit the brakes, and the RV stopped at the side of the road, having turned around 180 degrees and causing all the passengers who weren't buckled up to violently fall to the ground, and find something to hold on to. Gwen held onto the dashboard for dear life. Kevin noticed none of this.

"Dude!" the older Ben exclaimed, leaning on his arm as he got up, using the bolted-down coffee table to stand up. "What the heck?"

"My car!" the obsidian-eyed teen exclaimed.

* * *

The bedroom door closed behind the younger Gwen. She stood there for a moment, green eyes trained on the osmosian. He was sitting on the lower bunk which, up until a few minutes ago, had been occupied by her doofus of a cousin. He wasn't covered in stone, but he was as still as one. His head was hung down, staring at the folded hands in his lap.

"Kevin?" she said tentatively, taking a cautious step into the room, "Are you… okay?"

"No, I'm not, _Gwen_," her name on his lips was so laced with venom it made her cringe. She shook off the momentary instinct to leave and instead went further on into the room. Once she was directly by his side, she sat down on the bed. Not a word left the young red head's mouth. "That guy marries my mom, kicks me out of my own house, and has the nerve to call me _his son_. And what's more, _I_ don't even care about it!" He was yelling now, dark eyes on her face. So loudly that Gwen was sure that, if it wasn't for the soundproofed wall, someone would have come in to check on them. "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that. You've had it all good. Perfect family, perfect friends, perfect school, perfect everything!" The boy's voice had gone back to its normal volume, which was only slightly lower than his yelling.

"Hey!" the anodite snapped, "I get that you're mad, but you don't have to take it out on me!"

"Well, why not?" the dark-haired 12-year-old demanded, "There are so many people like you in the world, and they have no idea about people like me! They don't care!"

"That's because most people like you are criminals!" she shot right back. His eyes hardened, hands balled up into tight fists. "Sorry," she tried to amend, "That didn't come out right."

"Really?" his voice was dangerously low now. One wrong word, and he'd pounce. "Then what did you mean to say?"

"My family's not exactly perfect," she said softly. A few days ago, she would have been terrified if Kevin Levin had been looking at her like he was at that moment. But it's kind of hard to be afraid of someone after he's saved your life, you've risked your life to save his, and fallen asleep in his arms after that. Now, she wasn't scared at all. Well, maybe a little. "I mean, come on. My family's Ben. How can we be perfect? I'm still not exactly convinced that Aunt Sandra and Uncle Carl didn't just find him at the zoo and take him home."

At that moment a miracle happened. A smile spread across the face of the juvenile delinquent sitting across from the 11-year-old girl. Bashing Ben cheers Kevin up. She filed that information away for later, sure that it would come in handy at some point.

"Alright," the osmosian sighed, the smile not quite fading, "but, other than Tennyson, your life is perfect."

"Almost," she stated, thinking of how much she'd wanted an encyclopedia for Christmas and had gotten a new bike instead. "But it also comes with alien powers. The reason we're in this mess, remember?"

"That's not your fault," he told her gently, "It's that alien princess who told everyone to go out and ruin my Sunday of beating up those idiots at the Null Void."

"I know," she said with a sigh, flopping back down on the bed and staring at the bottom of the lower bunk. After a moment, her companion lay down next to her.

"When was the last day your life was truly normal?" she asked Kevin, "I mean no aliens, no superpowers, no having to fight some monster and getting your butt kicked."

"First of all, I don't get my butt kicked-"

"Yeah right," she interrupted him quickly, chuckling at the notion of one of the aliens from her cousin's watch beating up the criminal mastermind.

"-and second," said criminal mastermind ground out through his teeth, "I guess it was the day before my dad died." His tone had gone soft at the end of the sentence as the memory played out once again before the young boy's eyes. It was a memory he cherished deeply and, even after eight years, could still remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

"But, daddy!" he'd whined, holding onto his father's hand as if his life depended on it, trying to keep him from leaving. "Don't go! I don't want you to go!"

"I'm sorry, Kev," Devin said sadly, dragging his son all the way up to the front door. Trying to shake him off, as he'd discovered the first time he'd left the house when Kevin had learned to walk, was useless. "But I've gotta go save the universe. If I don't, who will?"

"The other Plumbers," the 4-year-old answered promptly.

"They're all busy, champ," the boy's father laughed. His eyes had crinkled in the corners whenever he laughed. There were little wrinkles all over the man's face from smiling so much. He leaned down and scooped Kevin up in his arms so that they'd be level. "I'll be back soon, I promise," he kissed the top of the boy's head and gave him a firm hug. "Be good and listen to your mother, got it?"

"Got it," Kevin said with a firm nod.

"Good," Devin smiled. At that moment, Kevin's mother had run out into the hallway wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. She was younger and looked less tired than the woman on TV had.

"Here, let me take him," she grinned, her arms outstretched to take her little miracle from her husband, "Your ride's gonna be here soon, anyway."

Devin handed his son over to his wife without protest. Kevin pouted once he was in his mother's arms.

"Oh, what's wrong, baby boy?" Evelyn asked, seeing the angry expression on her son's face.

"I'm not a baby," he announced, still pouting, "And I don't want daddy to go!"

"Daddy's gonna be home soon, right, Dev?" she turned to her husband for confirmation.

"Yep," the man stated, "Just gotta go save the universe, beat up some idiot trying to destroy it, and what am I forgetting?"

"Be back in time for dinner?" Evelyn joked, hr dark eyes sparkling with a light tat had gone out the moment she'd discovered the death of her beloved osmosian.

"What are we having?" said osmosian asked, hand on the doorknob.

"Roast beef," she answered, "Your favorite."

"Oh, well, in that case…" he trailed off, leaning forward and capturing his wife's lips in one last good-bye kiss. Kevin gagged, turning his head away and shutting his eyes. His parents laughed. The doorbell rang.

"That's Max," Devin sighed, turning back to the doorway, "Gotta go."

"Have fun," Evelyn told him and turned to head back upstairs, "Come on, Kevin, time for your nap."

"I'm not tired!" the little boy complained.

"Well, that's too bad," his mother stated, not halting for even a moment.

"That's your son over there?" Kevin heard his father's partner ask.

"Yeah," Devin confirmed, adoration and pride seeping into his voice, "My pride and joy."

"He's grown a lot since I last saw him," the unseen man Kevin knew only as Max announced, "I'm sure he's gonna grow up to be a good kid."

"Who knows?" Devlin laughed, "Maybe he'll even end up getting together with your granddaughter. How is she anyway?"

By that time, they'd already gotten to Kevin's room. The door shut behind Evelyn as she put her son to sleep. The memory ended. Kevin was back inside the bedroom in the RV.

Max…

His voice had sounded so familiar… The osmosian was sure he'd heard it somewhere before…

"Tennyson," he suddenly whispered.

"What?" Gwen interrupted his thoughts. With a start, the 12-year-old realized she'd been talking the whole time. Before he had time to answer, though, the RV turned roughly, yanking the two kids towards the nearest wall. Once the world had stopped spinning, Gwen was still lying on her back in the bed, while Kevin was on top of her, straddling her like he had when he'd tied her to the bed back at the cabin. The boy opened his eyes to see a pair of wide, jade orbs looking back at him in shock. The girl's short, red hair was spilled behind her messily, her mouth slightly parted in surprise.

"What was that?" she asked. As if he knew… Her eyes looked so innocent then, filled with child-like curiosity and shock at what had just happened…

"I don't know," he whispered. Unconsciously, the 12-year-old realized he'd been lowering himself closer and closer to her body, those bright green eyes, those parted lips…

"Are you guys- Oops!" Eunice exclaimed as she opened the door and walked in on the scene. The anodite promptly pushed her captor down and he tumbled onto the floor. "Whoa!"

"Sorry," the blonde muttered, a blush creeping over her cheeks.

"It's fine," the 11-year-old girl promised her, getting up without so much as a glance at the osmosian, "We're okay, and were just about to go back anyway." She did her best to hide her boiling hot face from Kevin. What the heck had just happened?

* * *

"We're doomed," Winston stated for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour. He was pacing the length of the cell back and forth, repeating the phrase again and again, as if though he believed that, somehow, if he said it enough times, it might not be true anymore. Kai sat curled up into a little ball, head hidden in her lap. Ship lay next to her sadly, every once in a while muttering a soft, "Ship." He missed Julie, his mistress. His Julie. He hoped she was ok…

"Would you be quiet!" Kai finally hissed at her companion, "I am trying to think of a way out of this mess!"

"What's the point?" the squire heaved a great sigh before plopping down against the wall, next to the Native American. "The rakari will win, mankind will perish… They've probably already captured Gwen!"

"Don't say that!" she scolded him firmly, desperately hoping it wasn't true, "I'm sure Kevin's keeping her safe, and Ben is on his way to rescue us right now."

"Ship, ship!" Ship agreed firmly.

"Your girlfriend's right, pal," a raspy voice from across the hall announced. The two teens exchanged a look, slowly got up, and walked over to the bars, careful not to touch them. In the dim light from the overhead lamps, they could just barely make out two shapes in the cell across from theirs. One was lean, tall, and skinny, while the other was slightly smaller. The taller one had spoken. "Tennyson's gonna get here real soon, kick the bad guys' butts, and then we'll all be free."

"Are you telling me you actually know him?" Winston asked, eyes narrowed at the pair. "Personally, I mean."

"Well, yeah," the smaller one said with a shrug.

"Totally," the taller one agreed, "We're like this." He held up two crossed fingers to illustrate.

"Who are you guys, then?" Kai asked suspiciously, glaring at the two shapes, who were, without a doubt, lying.

"I'm J.T., and this is Cash," the shorter one answered.

"Hmm, that's funny," Winston mused, "We've been traveling with Ben Tennyson for nearly a week now, and I don't recall him ever mentioning a Cash, or a J.T. Do you, Kai?"

"No, Winston, I don't," the young woman stated.

"Oh, yeah?" Cash snapped, his temper getting the better of him, "Like you really traveled with Ben Tennyson anywhere."

"Yes," the squire told him patiently, "I almost got beat up by his best friend."

"Kevin Levin?" JT asked, eyes widening in surprise, and, moments later, his face settled into a sympathetic grimace. "Yikes, dude. Been there, done that."

"Now that, I'll believe," Kai declared, getting up and stepping closer to the bars, trying to get a closer look at their jail mates. She could now see that Cash had black hair and brown eyes, and JT had glasses. Cash jabbed his best friend in the gut.

"You mean Kevin Levin once got beat up by me!" he snapped, while the teen tried to regain his breath.

"You know, I really can't stand liars," Winston announced, standing up as well.

"Would you guys shut up?" a feminine voice from the next cell over demanded, "We are gonna be trapped here who knows how long, and I'm pretty sure no one here wants to listen to a bunch of idiots fighting over who's Ben Tennyson's BFF, or who beat who up. Speaking of which, Cash, would you just give it up already? Everyone knows you didn't really beat up Kevin Levin."

"Did too!' the teen declared rather childishly, crossing his arms on his chest and turning his back on the conversation, nose turned up high in the air.

"Did you two kids really travel with Ben Tennyson?" a reporter asked, a couple of cells away.

"Yes," Winston told him, "Although, weren't exactly there for the whole thing."

"Fascinating!" the reporter, a man in a dark blue pinstripe suit and balding hair cried. He seemed to not have heard the last sentence, focusing primarily on the 'yes'. "How would you two like to get an exclusive interview with _the _Ben Tennyson for the Bellwood Morning News?"

"We're not that good friends," Kai told him.

"Yeah," Cash scoffed, "Otherwise you wouldn't be here in the first place."

"Cash!" JT whined, "Don't make them mad! They could be aliens from outer space!"

"How dare you!" Winston exclaimed, anger burning in his crystalline eyes. Kai face-palmed herself. She knew exactly what was coming. "I am a Forever Knight! Ready to rage in battle against these monsters that dare think they can rule over our fair planet! I will best any beast who dares think he has the power to take on a true Knight! I fight for honor and justice. And anyone who dares accuse me of being a cold-blooded beast of the beyond, beware. You shall find yourself begging for mercy at the point of my drawn sword."

There was a moment of silence at the end of the speech.

"So, I'm guessing that means no interview?" the reporter asked in a slightly trembling voice. He was ignored.

"Jeez, dude, chill," JT muttered, "We get it, you're not an alien."

"Great," Kai huffed, lifting her head, grateful that the storm was over, "now that that's settled, how do we get out of here?"

At that moment, there was a huge crash from outside. The sound of chaos, shooting, and running footsteps followed. Another few seconds later, all the cell doors swung open, and a man in a Plumber's uniform, a blaster gun in his hands, with a face like a frog ran in.

"Everybody, follow me!" he ordered, "The Plumbers are here to rescue you and take you back to our headquarters, where you'll all be safe."

Not a minute had passed that the majister's orders were being followed. Everyone ran for the exit, in a hurry to get as far from here as possible. Everyone but Kai, Winston, and Ship that is.

"Woohoo, we're free!" Cash yelled as he and JT ran through the crowd of prisoners to the exit.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kai demanded, already halfway out the cell door, "Let's get out of here!"

"We can't!" the squire protested, "What about Ben and Gwen? What about the Earth?"

"What about it?" the Native American snapped back, "We're human, Winston, not some supernatural beings who live on other planets. There's nothing we can do to help them, so we might as well just save ourselves."

"I'm sorry, Kai," the teen said, sounding he really meant it, "But, if there's one thing the Knights taught me, it's never give up without a fight. I'm not leaving, and neither should you."

"I'm sorry, too, then," she whispered, "but I am."

And, before Winston could even process what was going on, the raven-haired girl had thrown her arms around his neck, her lips pressing insistently against his. It took the young man a moment to give in and kiss her back. His arms snaked around her waist, and his mouth opened. His tongue traced the outline of her soft lips. She tasted like the woods they'd been trapped in for what felt like forever.

The kiss was over as soon as it had started. Kai broke away, her breathing hard, face flushed. Winston regarded her with surprise. Never, in a million years, had he expected a girl like Kai to be interested in someone like him. The girl gave a soft, apologetic smile, and turned away to follow the crowd.

"Good-bye," she whispered.

* * *

A/N: And that's the story of how Kai broke Winston's heart. This chapter's lateness can be contributed to the fact that the people at Cambridge University think I'm a bad author. Sorry, guys, English is kinda important to me, and if someone says I suck at it, I tend to take it to heart.

I'm sorry, 1lilpen and Anonymous, to have upset you so much. I don't mind being called evil… or selfish… or mean… or greedy… but I do mind letting people down. So, my dear readers, know this: come hell, or high water, and no matter how long it takes me, I will finish this fic!

Also, sorry, Anonymous, I didn't get your email address… the site doesn't let us post them. You have to put a dot after each letter, like this: e.x.a.m.p.l.e. (at symbol)g.m.a.i.l.c.o.m.


	26. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**A/N: **First of all, I have to say, I am very sorry for this. I know how annoying it is when you're waiting for an author to upload a chapter, and end up getting a dumb author's note. I just wanted to say that I think I'm done with this story. Ben 10 is over, and the new Omniverse cartoon, in my opinion, doesn't do the old ones justice, especially since (SPOILER ALERT!) they cut Gwen and Kevin out. I'm out of inspiration, but I don't want it to go unfinished. So, please, let me know if you want to adopt this story, and finish it. If not, this could very well be the end…

XOXOXO, Scarlett


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